


Death Doesn't Discriminate

by TheMadHatress13



Series: Life Doesn't Discriminate Between the Sinners and the Saints [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Infinity Gauntlet, M/M, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Soul Stone (Marvel), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-01 01:01:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14509086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMadHatress13/pseuds/TheMadHatress13
Summary: After Thanos snapped his fingurs and tore the universe in half, everyone left thinks it's over, including Thanos himself. The universe, though, is angry. It does not like being torn, and decides it's time for the Avengers to fix it.*MAJOR EDITING PROJECT IN PROGRESS!





	1. Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down

**Author's Note:**

> So, this a sequel to my mini story, though you don't necissarily have to read that first. It would be good if you did though. The story will pick up soon, this first chaper is mostly to get some information out of the way.  
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> MAJOR INFINITY WAR SPOILERS!!!

The kid was dead.

 

Dust swirled around them, and Dr. Strange disintegrated in front of them telling Tony “It was the only way” as he did.

 

Spiderman was dead.

 

Tony felt his stomach drop when he heard a wavery voice call his name. He turned carefully to see Peter stumble forward, and begin to fall. Tony caught him and lowered him down slowly, his mind immediately denying what was happening even though he could see Peter turning to dust in his hands.

 

Peter was dead.

 

“I’m sorry,” Peter forced out, looking up at Tony in desperation before tilting his head to the side and drifting away into ash.

 

Thanos had won. Peter, oh God, Peter. What would Aunt May say? Tony could practically see the look of despair on her face; the look of loss. “I don’t wanna go, please Mr. Stark…” Tony gasped for breath as he heard the kid’s words echoing in his mind. Thanos had killed him. Thanos had killed everyone. Tony had not seen it as he had been on Titan when it had happened, but it was clear by the fact that he was now watching the ashes of almost everyone else on the planet blow away.

Away…

Away…

Away…

Tony felt his breath catching in the back of his throat and put his head between his knees has his thoughts began to race out of his control. He stayed the way he was, slowly rocking back and forth for what felt like hours but was really only five minutes. Finally, when the worst had passed, he looked up. He was still trembling from the shock and let out a small cry as he saw the ashes of his friends blow through the air.

“Death doesn’t discriminate, between the sinners and the saints, it takes, and it takes, and it  
takes…”

Tony tuned his head sharply at the noise, ignoring the burst of pain in his neck that the motion caused. He stared in confusion as the figure of a small girl surrounded in glowing gold light sat down beside him.

“It’s from the play Hamilton. I was practicing that song when the blast hit. One moment I was singing, and the next I was just...gone,” she said, looking out at the ash drifting aimlessly in the wind. She had bright green eyes and choppy brown hair that was layered around her chin. A layer of ash covered her green leather jacket, and she seemed to have holes burned into her, like the way a paper does if you fold it, hold it over a flame, and then unfold it again.

“Mindy,” Tony stated, to shocked to get her name wrong like usual. He had met Mindy before, but only a few times. She had been one of Peter’s friends, and a promising young stage actress.

“I’m guessing Peter didn’t make it?” she asked, her bright eyes following the slowly disintegrating ash. Tony felt his eyes burn but pushed his tears back, nodding mutely.

“How are you here, Mindy. You said you disintegrated like Peter and the others,” Tony managed to say over the lump in his throat.

“I’m not sure,” she replied. “The light told me it was the soul stone,” she answered.

“The light?” Tony asked in confusion.

“The light,” she replied, gesturing to the golden glow that surrounded her small frame. “It said the universe is angry, that it feels ripped apart. I wasn’t entirely sure what it was saying, but they said something about the soul stone being a loophole, and that’s why we didn’t die. Apparently the sacrifice was impossible, whatever that means.”

“Didn’t die?” Tony asked, an unwanted hope beginning to burn in his chest.

“No, not entirely anyway. We’re all just kind of stuck I think. I wouldn’t know, we can’t all see each other. That’s just what the light told me.

“So Peter’s-”

“Yes. If I’m right, than yes. The universe is angry, and it’s tired of being used. You can fix this Tony, it wants you to fix this,” she said, getting up from where she was sitting beside him.

“We keep living anyway, we rise, and we fall, and we make our mistakes, but if there’s a  
reason I’m still alive when everyone who’s loved me has died, then I’m willing to wait for.  
I'm willing to wait for it.”

“TONY!” A voice yelled. He jerked out of the position he had been sitting and staring blankly ahead for the past five minutes in to see Nebula standing over him, her robotic face in it’s usual emotionless mask, though he could have sworn he caught a glimmer of grief in her dark eyes. “Tony, we need to go. Thanos will be returning here soon, and he will not want to see us,” she commanded, yanking him to his feet. He stumbled after her as she lead him quickly away from the scene of the massacre, his brain unable to function enough to make her stop.

“Nebula,” he gasped, “I saw her...Mindy!” he said as the ex daughter of Thanos shoved him onto her ship.

“Who?” she asked with little interest.

“A girl. A girl who died like Peter did. S-she was talking about infinity stones, about the soul stone,” Tony rambled, his regular bravado failing him.

“Go on,” Nebula said, her fingers stopping as they hovered over the touchpad where she was entering in coordinates.

“She- the girl, Mindy, whatever- she said that the soul stone was a loophole, it wasn’t collected right or something, so everyone who disintegrated isn’t dead. I mean, they kind of are, but they’re somehow not, I-I don’t know!” he growled in frustration, throwing a chair across the ship.

“Of course,” Nebula said. “It all makes since,” she whispered, obviously not planning on clueing Tony in on what any of it meant any time soon.

“Um, hello? Yeah, I’d like to know what my crazy vision was about if ya don’t mind,” Tony snapped, making the ex assassin narrow her dark eyes at him.

“The soul stone can only be achieved by sacrificing what the retriever loves most. In Thanos’ case, that was Gamora,” Nebula said stiffly, obviously unsure what to think about the death of her sister. “But if you look at it logically, it’s an unsolvable task.” 

“I don’t follow,” Tony said, half his mind still replaying the death of his team over and over again. The half that was following along with the conversation though didn’t understand how that was a loophole. Sacrifice what you loved most to get the stone. Simple. Nebula seemed to think it was the most oblivious thing ever as she rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation at his comment.

“And they call you a genius,” she said wistfully. “It’s an impossible task because if you truly love the thing you are told to destroy, you wouldn’t do it. The fact that Thanos was willing to kill Gamora to get the soul stone shows that he did love something more than her, and that was the power the stone had to offer him. He loved his plan. The only way that he could truly get that soul stone would be to throw away the others, which he would never do,” Nebula explained impatiently as the ship took off. “Get it?”

“Yes Nebby, now where are we going?” Tony snapped crossly, not enjoying being talked down to.

“Earth, and did you just call me Nebby?” she replied growling the last part as she turned to glare at him.

“Hey, the fact that I’m willing to nickname you means that I remember your real name. Most people would be honored!” he replied smoothly earning another metallic sounding growl from the other.

 

Peter woke up with the words ‘I’m sorry’ dieing on his lips. He was standing on what looked like Titan, except everything was made of golden light and he was the only one there. “Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark!” he called, the memories of the last few minutes coming back to him. He yelled his mentor’s name until his voice was raw, but the only response he got was the sound of distant wind. “Where am I?” he asked no one. He looked down at his hands and body to see that he was also glowing with golden light. It looked as if patches of him were burned away though, like he was slowly vanishing. His right shoulder was sporting a large gap where his suite and skin seemed to be faded as if shaded in lightly with pastel colored pencils. The same was happening with his left hip, and part of his left shin. He stared at the gaps in horror for a few minutes until he realised that they weren’t spreading. Not yet at least.

He continued to walk around the light-made replica of Titan and soon realised he was going in circles, and that he had yet to find any other creature, living nor dead. What if there was no one else? What if he never saw a living being again? Was he going to starve, was there any water in this odd light world? Millions of terrifying thoughts sprang to life and raced each other to the front of his mind, pushing and clawing for his attention. “Tony?” he called quietly as he sunk down to the ground, still hoping for some kind of response. He was met with only silence.


	2. Tend to our Wounded, Count our Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The remaining teammates figure out what's going, Tony gets a transmission to Earth, and Peter is still trapped alone in the void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thankyou so much for the support with this story! Enjoy chapter two!

Steve sat on his bed in Wakanda staring blankly at the wall in front of him. The wall was plain and white, but all he could see were colors. He saw the green of the trees in the forest when he had heard Bucky say his name, and he saw the orangy brown of the ash that his best friend dissolved into. Everyone had lost someone that day, and so no one had said anything since. Plans would need to be made to fight Thanos, and public statements would need to be prepared, but for now there was quiet.

The loss of T’challa had been catastrophic, and the country of Wakanda was in a state of mourning. There was still no word from Tony, but the team refused to think about what that could mean. Natasha had sent out a message to Clint and his family to see if they were okay, and Steve had written a quick email to Scott Lang, not trusting himself to make an actual phone call without breaking down. They had yet to receive a response from either recipients.

“Steve?” the voice of Natasha asked gently from his door. Steve glanced up at her and then turned his gaze back to the wall in front of him. “Steve they’re holding a strategy meeting, they want you there,” Natasha pressed on.

“Start without me,” he grumbled, making Natasha sight.

“Steve I know-”

“Fine, I’ll go,” he relented, not wanting her sympathies. The ex assassin looked like she wanted to say more, but closed her mouth and wordlessly lead him down the hall and into Shuri’s lab where the others were waiting.

“Alright, I believe that’s everyone,” Okoye said, looking around at the assembled crowd made up of Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Rhodey, Rocket, and Shuri. Silence hung thick around them, everyone thinking the same thing; There should be more.

“Has anyone heard from Stark? What about the kid, Spiderman,” Rhodey asked, looking around.

“Still no word,?” Okoye replied.

“How about the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Rocket said from the sidelines.

“I’m sorry, Rabbit, but we have not heard from your friends either,” Thor answered sadly. “Banner, have you heard from any of them?”

“Nah, and Hulk is still refusing to come out of whatever funk he’s gotten himself into. It’s ironic, isn’t it? The one time I want him around, he leaves.”

“So, we basically know nothing,” Shuri clarified, eyes red from crying. The loss of her brother had been terrible enough the first time, but it somehow seemed to hurt even more now.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Natasha agreed. Steve was about to see if he’d be able to slip away when suddenly a loud beep alerted the assembled group to an incoming transmission.

“It’s from Pepper Potts!” Shuri exclaimed, quickly accepting the transmission request. Soon a holographic Pepper popped up in front of them.

“Pepper! What’s going on?” Bruce asked. Pepper looked exhausted. Her hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a day, and her face was a mask of worry.

“I just got word from a friend. Nick Fury and Maria Hill are dead,” she reported. An audible gasp was heard around the lab. “They turned to dust with the others, but Nick was able to send a message before he did.”

“To whom?” Steve asked, making the others look at him in surprise.

“To someone called ‘Captain Marvel’, she’s the one who gave me the message. I’ve never met her, but Nick mentioned her once before, he said she was some sort of emergency contact,” Pepper explained. “H-have any of you heard from Tony?” she asked tentatively.

“Sorry Pepper, we haven’t,” Steve replied. “Last we heard he was in space with Dr. Strange, Spiderman, and some of the Guardians of the Galaxy.”

“He was with Peter?” a second voice said. Suddenly another woman joined Pepper in the frame, her eyes wide with worry.

“This is May, she’s Spiderman’s aunt,” Pepper explained. “Neither of us have heard from anyone either.”

“Well we’ll tell you if we hear anything,” Shuri promised before ending the transmission. She sighed deeply before turning back towards the group. “Alright, I’m trying everything I can to find your friends, but I do not know what kind of ship they are in, so I have no clue what I’m looking for,” she explained. I have seen some ship movement, but I can’t promise that one of them is Stark.” The others nodded, trying not to feel to hopeful.

“Well, I think it’s time we start thinking about the bigger picture. Is Thanos really gone?” Steve asked.

“He got what he wanted, so I see no reason why he would not be,” Okoye answered. “My patrols say all has been silent since the battle, so I believe he has left Earth.”

"Okay, that’s good at least. What about Ross?” Bruce questioned. “From what I heard, he’s been throwing a little fit since you guys got back from hiding.”

“Haven’t heard much from him yet, but he was on tv earlier releasing a statement about what happened, so I know he’s still around,” Natasha replied.

“Hopefully he will have the sense to leave us well alone,” Thor said. “It would be foolish to wage a civil war in the midst of such a crisis.”

“Thor’s right,” Steve said. “Don’t take a go at Ross unless he forces our hand. If he tries to call us out, pretend we were killed in the blast until we can’t anymore. “

“Alright, Captain,” Rhodey replied with a small smile. It was then that the transmissions button began going again.

“It’s Stark!” Shuri yelled, answering it even faster then she had before. They all sighed in relief as a holographic Tony Stark popped up in front of them.

“Tony!” they all greeted. He nodded, his eyes downcast and blood drying on his face.

“Tony, what is it?” asked the voice of Pepper. Apparently Shuri had hooked up a double transmission, so that Pepper could be kept in the loop if Tony called.

“Hey, are guardian’s with ya?” Rocket asked, pushing past the others. “Tell ‘em to get their lazy asses over here! I’ve gotta yell at ‘em!”

“Rocket...I-I think he’s alone,” Natasha said quietly. Rocket looked up at Tony in horror, his expression crumbling when Tony nodded in affirmation. “They’re all gone, Dr. Strange, Mantis, Quill, Drax, Peter…” he trailed off, lowering his head while the others gasped in shock. “They’re all dust.” His head jerked up again when he heard May cry out in anguish. Pepper gave the others a dismayed look before leaving the transmission to comfort the grieving woman.

“You forgot someone,” Nebula said, stepping in front of Tony. “He also forgot to mention the fact that it isn’t permanent. There’s a way to bring them back.”

“What!” Steve said, looking up sharply.

“After it happened, I saw someone. A friend of Peter’s who had also disintegrated," Tony said, voice lacking it's usual attitude and bite.

“If she’d disintegrated, how could you see her?” Rhodey asked. Making Tony shoot him an annoyed look.

“I was getting to that if you people could just shut up for a quick minute,” he grumbled. “She was delivering some kind of message. Apparently Thanos did something wrong when getting the stones, which means the half of the population that was supposed to die, didn’t die correctly,” he explained, making the others look at each other in confusion.

“How could Thanos have collected the stone’s incorrectly? He got all of them,” Okoye said, furrowing her brow.

“It was the soul stone,” Nebula cut in, making Tony glower at her as she continued. “In order to retrieve the soul stone, Thanos had to kill what he loved most. He thought that that meant Gamora, but really it’s an impossible puzzle. The thing he loved the most was the infinity stones. His ‘mission’. That meant that while the sacrifice was enough to get him the soul stone, it created a loophole when used.”

“So… there’s a way to bring them back?” Bruce asked hopefully.

“According to Mindy, yes. There is,” Tony replied, smirking at Nebula who had also attempted to answer. “I’m sending a message to Pepper now, she’s gonna send over a ship. You guys are in Wakanda, right?”

“Yeah, it’s where we’re staying for now,” Steve answered.

“Well then open your sky shield, ‘cause you’ve got a spaceship on the way,” Tony ordered before signing off.

“He’s being serious, isn’t he,” Shuri said.

“Most likely,” Natasha replied. “If I were you, I’d open those sky shields.”

 

Peter wandered aimlessly through what he was now calling ‘Titan 2.0’. It wasn’t the most original name he’d ever thought of, but he was too stressed to spend time thinking of a better one. He had made the discovery that he no longer got hungry or thirsty, so he didn’t need to worry about starvation, or dehydration. He had yet to meet another living being though, which he knew could prove just as dangerous.

MJ had taken an interest in researching solitary confinement outside of school after one of their teachers had mentioned something about it, and was sure to tell them all about the repercussions, not sparing any horrifying details. “I don’t wanna go insane,” Peter muttered miserably. “I’m guessing talking to myself isn’t really gonna help. I’m doing it again, aren’t I. Shit.”

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been walking so far. He hadn’t slept since he had arrived, and didn’t feel tired in the slightest. It was as if there was no time on Titan 2.0. Everything just was. For all he knew, he’d already been on the strange planet for years, and he hadn’t even closed his eyes once.

Peter let his thoughts drift briefly to Thanos. Obviously he had won the war and gotten all the infinity stones, but had he left Earth alone after? He hoped that not all the avengers had been disintegrated. He knew Mr. Stark was still alive, as he hadn’t shone any signs of vanishing, but he wasn’t sure about the rest. He had tried calling the names of the other people who had been on the real Titan with them, but had gotten no response from them either. He felt a tear roll down his face when realised he was truly alone for what could be forever.

 

Shuri wished she could stay she was impressed with Stark’s ship. She wasn’t saying it was bad, it was quite well made and would work just fine. Compared to her designs though, it seemed out of date. That was why she was now running around the interior of the large ship making updates and adjustments using her own materials. Tony had not been pleased to hear that she was messing around with his toys, but what was he going to do. He was still in space.

Pepper had joined the meeting over transmission about twenty minutes after she had signed off to comfort May saying that she had sent the ship, which arrived not five minutes later. She also said she had heard from Clint. He was okay, and so was his family, which came as a relief to all. Scott had yet to reply, but they held out hope.

Wakanda was recovering rather quickly in Shuri’s opinion from the fight, and already people were releasing statements to ease the public's worrying. Everyone agreed that it was nice to finally have a viable excuse as to how they had managed to survive such a battle as they were no longer pretending to be dirt poor and helpless. As expected, Secretary Ross had been very interested in the Avengers involvement, and had begun questioning the Wakanda ambassadors on whether or not they remained in the country. Though they tried to hide it, it was eventually decided that it would be for the best to just come clean. It wasn’t like Ross could just cross the border and snatch them.

Wakanda had been sure to make clear that they would not be handing the Avengers over to Ross, and if he were to try and send in a team to retrieve them, it would be shot down without question. Having seen the outcome of the battle, Ross didn’t argue and stayed well away from the Wakanda border.

“Hey, Shuri,” Bruce greeted, peering into the ship.

“Hello, Bruce,” she replied, tightening a screw.

“I was told to tell you that Tony’ll be landing soon. They’re preparing a launch pad for him, but thought you might wanna be there.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” she grunted as she yanked a circuit board out of the ship’s interior. “I’ll be right there, just let me finish this up. You wouldn’t happen to know how many people will be traveling in this, would you?” she asked, fiddling with a few switches before deciding to replace them too.

“I assumed it would be everyone,” Bruce said in confusion.

“Oh, no way!” Shuri said with a laugh. “I mean, Stark definitely only designed this for a few people, four on average I’d say,” Shuri explained.

“Well we could all bunk,” Bruce suggested.

“No, it’s not that,” Shuri replied. “It’s the design in general. Everything is smaller to make it slimmer and the front more aerodynamic. There’s only two rooms with beds, and three chairs in the cockpit. This ship was designed for a very small crew,” she said, pointing to the lack of space around them.

“Huh,” Bruce said, looking around at the narrow hallways and general lack of space. “You’re right, I hadn’t noticed that before. I guess he only planned on a few of us going.”

“Well I know I am. It’s one of the reasons I’m doing all these upgrades. I’m the only one who knows how to work all this tech, so he’ll have to take me!” Shuri exclaimed with a grin. “What about you?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I mean, I’ve had enough space for now, and they probably need me here. Plus if the Hulk does decide to show his face again, I wouldn’t want to accidentally space us.”

“I see your point,” Shuri said with a shrug. “I think Steve will want to go. He wants to avenge his White Wolf, like I want to avenge my brother,” Shuri stated.

“His White Wolf?” Bruce asked. 

"Bucky, he will want get revenge on Thanos for killing him, obviously," Shuri said. Bruce realized that, once again, Shuri was correct. Steve bad seemed even more effected by the death of Bucky than by anyone elses. There had always been a sort of 'unspoken thing' there, at least that's what Natasha had said. 

 

It was late in the afternoon when a ship was spotted in the air space above Wakanda. The shields were quickly lowered and Tony Stark climbed out, followed by Nebula. There were no other survivors. The reunion had been short, mostly involving tears and fond memories of those who were unable to attend thanks to Thanos.  
Shuri showed Tony some of the changes she'd made to his design, and secured herself a position in the group that would be going up in the ship. Tony hadn't been all that happy about it, but Okoye had vouched for Shuri, saying that she could handle things while the other woman was away. Pepper had been beyond relieved to see him, and May had insisted on an explanation as to where Peter was. Tony had known that she would want one, but he dreaded it all the same.

"How did he die?" She asked. 

"Half die," he corrected, more for his own benefit than for hers. "We're gonna get him back.  
We'll get them all back." He was then forced to recount the tail of everything that had occurred on Titan, up to and past the death of Peter Parker. By the end of the story they were both crying, and Peter's last words were echoing once more through Tony's mind. They had never really stopped, he supposed, but they had faded more into the background. Now, however, they were back withfull force.

"Tony?" The voice of Steve Rogers asked as the super soldier sat down besides him. Tony had not moved since his conversation with May, and it was beginning to worry the others. "I know it hurts," Steve said quietly. He waited a few minutes before Tony finally responded.

"They all just think of him as 'The Spiderman'," Tony said, not looking away. "I'm the only one who's ever really seen him as a kid," he finished in a whisper. Steve could relate. Bucky would always be seen as 'The Winter Soldier', never just Bucky. Only Steve would ever see Bucky. Now all four of them, Peter, Bucky, Winter Soldier, and Spiderman were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If ypu have any questions or just want to cry about Infinity War, find me on tumblr: LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	3. Hurts like Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chosen crew heads to space, and Peter's condition worsens. Plus: Bucky!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone's liking this so far! If you have any questions, ideas, or just want to obsess over infinity war, hit me up on tumblr in the End Notes.  
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> ALSO:  
> I changed Hawkeye's quiver to a hip quiver as they work better in battle, back quivers are just what Hollywood does, which always annoys me and my archer friend.

Peter had figured out where he was. He was in Hell. Only Hell would leave him so alone. Only Hell could possibly do this to him. He was tired of walking nowhere, and longed for a sign of any other living thing on what he had now begun referring to Hell, rather than Titan 2.0. He was starting to feel sick as well. His vision would occasionally blur, and he felt weak. Far weaker than he should given his healing factor, and even weaker than he had ever been without it.

The burned out pieces of him were also beginning to change. Now a part of his right thigh was beginning to fade, and the missing part of his hip was spreading. “What’s happening to me?” he asked no one as he stumbled past the same rock formation he’d passed not long before. He’d given up trying to find anyone else. At this point he just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again, but it seemed that sleeping in this place wasn’t an option. A coughing fit wracked his body, and he curled in on himself from the force of it, his hand coming away from his mouth covered in red. He whimpered as he ran his tongue over his teeth, a metallic tang of blood contrasting sharply with his dry mouth.

Eventually he took refuge in a rocky cave, but could still not seem to sleep. He jumped at every shadow, continuously thinking he was seeing various people he knew. “Help,” he said as another fit of violent coughs took over and blood dripped down his chin and onto his trembling hands. “I don’t want to die again.”

 

Bruce was beginning to notice that Shuri was generally correct about everything. As the inventor had predicted, Tony had only designed the ship for an average of four people, and Steve immediately decided that he would be going with them. Tony had been highly opposed to the idea, but Steve had insisted. Tony had relented much faster than Bruce had expected him to, and he had a feeling it was about whatever top secret conversation they’d had earlier.

Bruce had been offered a spot on the crew, but had turned it down, telling Tony the same things he’d told Shuri. Eventually the final spot went to Natasha, as an ex assassin and S.H.I.E.L.D agent would probably come in handy when sneaking around an enemy base. Rocket had decided that he would be going as well and, given his size, Tony decided it wouldn’t pose much of a problem.

Scott Lang finally got back to Steve about three hours before they were set to leav saying that he was alive, but Cassie had turned to ash before his eyes, along with the girl’s mother. He had agreed to join the other’s in Wakanda, as there was no reason for him to be anywhere else. His family was dead.

“Alright, captain, ready to go?” Rhodey asked, handing Steve a backpack.

“Yeah, I guess,” he replied, zipping his jacket and taking one last look around the room he’d been staying in.

“Tony said to remind you to bring your ‘star spangled ouncie’,” Rhodey reported, “His words, not mine. He also wants you to know his ship, his rules.”

“Got it,” Steve replied absently, already knowing the last part because of the thirty minute lecture he had received from the man the day before. He was not to start a mutiny on Tony’s ship, and he was to acknowledge that Tony was in charge in front of everyone on board. He had a feeling that Tony was just rubbing it in at this point, but decided to throw the man a bone. He’d been through enough as it was.

When they got outside, Tony, Natasha, Shuri, and Rocket were waiting at the entrance of the ship.

“And so he joins us at last!” Tony called, motioning for him to hurry up. “You didn’t forget your star spangled onesie, did you?” he checked, making Steve roll his eyes.

“Relax Tony, Rhodey gave me your message.”

“Good. Now, I wasn’t sure he would, so I had to clarify.”

“Can we just go?” Natasha asked, already walking up the ramp and into the ship. The others quickly followed her in, knowing that she would not want to be waiting for long. Steve, Rocket, and Natasha looked around the ship in amazement while Shuri just rolled her eyes. Americans. They’d settle for anything. She’d expected a higher taste in technology from Rocket as he’s been in space, but apparently she had been wrong. Tony was about to sit down in the pilot’s seat when he was forcefully shoved away by Shuri, who immediately took his place.

“There is no way I am letting you drive,” she said. “That is final.” Tony looked affronted, but knew there was no arguing, especially since Shuri had re designed all the controls so she was the only one who knew how take off.

“Okay everyone, we should choose rooms, and then go over the plan,”  
Steve said.

“Yeah, what is the plan?” Rocket asked. As he was the smallest, he’d be taking the large couch Tony had for some reason built into the wall.

“We’ll figure it out once we’re settled,” Natasha replied, grabbing her and Shuri’s things and bringing them into the room she had claimed for the girls. Tony and Steve followed suit, bringing their bags into the remaining bedroom. Tony immediately claimed the top bunk, and spread out all his stuff so that Steve couldn’t move it.

“Alright, Tony, I get it. The top bunk is yours,” Steve finally said, watching with mild amusement as Tony spread every possession he had brought with him over his bed. Steve put his bag down on the bottom bed. He reached into his pocket and took out a small folded picture. Bucky. He sat down on the bunk and looked at the picture for another moment before putting it back in his pocket and looking up to see Tony looking at him.

“Time to go join the others,” he said, a flash of sympathy flitting across his face before he turned and returned to the cockpit where Shuri was setting up the autopilot. Tony and Natasha eached grabbed seats, leaving Steve and Rocket standing as Tony had only built three chairs in the cockpit.

“Alright, now. What’s the game plan?” Natasha asked, looking round the group, her gaze finally landing on Tony. “You’re the one that saw Mindy, or whatever her name was, what do you think we should do?”

“Well we’re clearly going after Thanos,” Tony began, gesturing around at the ship. “I think that wwe just need to get the infinity stones back. Maybe if we get them and then snap our fingers, than we can reverse what happened,” Tony suggested, knowing that it would probably not be that simple.

“How do we know Thanos evan still has the infinity stones?” Rocket asked, looking around. “I mean, if they’re all mad at him like Tony’s ghost girl said, wouldn’t they have scattered?”

“He has a point,” Shuri said, turning in her pilot’s seat to face the others. “That kind of magical energy in such a high amount probably would have scattered the stones.”

“Great. Just, wonderful,” Tony grumbled, spinning his chair slowly with his feet.

“Do we even know where Thanos is?” Steve cut it, impatient to start taking actual steps to bring Bucky, and everyone else who had been disintegrated, back to the real world.

“Ah! I was hoping you’d ask that!” Shuri exclaimed, turning back towards the main controls and bringing up a holographic sataite image which Tony definitely didn’t remember putting in the original design.

“Wait, no, what is that?” he demanded, making Shuri roll her eyes.

“Relax, Stark. It’s a thing I’m working on to track Infinity Stones, which I believe could lead to Thanos,” she explained.

“Um… I don’t remember approving this,” Tony argued.

“You didn’t approve half the things I did in here.”

“That is unacceptable. I’m not comfortable with this!” Tony declared, his complaints falling on deaf ears as the others crowded around Shuri’s invention.

“So, you can track him?” Natasha asked.

“Not yet, I’m still trying to figure out what kind of energy signal I’m looking for. It could take a few days to really pinpoint it,” Shuri explained apologetically.

“Hey, at least it’s something,” Steve said to cheer her up. The others nodded their agreement, still looking intently at the projection.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted,” Tony declared, breaking the falling silence. “I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me. I’m in the top bunk, just ask Cap,” he said, patting the super soldier on the shoulder as he headed down the small hallways to their shared room and jumping up onto the top bunk. The others slowly made their way to bed as well, but no one slept for many hours to come. Steve stayed away, hand clutched around the small photo of Bucky while Tony lay above him, the last moment of Peter’s death playing in his mind. Natasha pictured Wanda dissolving into dust, a look of mixed fear and freedom on her face. Natasha could never really decipher how the other woman must have been feeling in her final moments. Perhaps she thought of her brother and Vision. Shuri pictured only Okoye's face when the general had told her the death of T'challa. The fear and anguish in her eyes had been matched only by Shuri's. Rocket sat staring at a projection of the other Guardians of the Galaxy until well past midnight, glad that no one else was there to see the tears silently slipping down his face. Even the knowledge that they could reverse what happened didn’t comfort him for Nebula had told him Gamora was truly gone. He remembered how he had knocked her unconscious when she had been prepared to go back for Quill when he’d been fighting his father, how he had said he couldn’t lose another friend. He’d been able to save her that time, not again, though. Not again.

 

The silence was closing in on him. Peter stained his ears for any sound other than the penetrating quiet, but found nothing. It reminded him of a not-so-old movie that MJ had been telling him about, ‘A Quiet Place’. He now understood how horrible it must have been for those characters. Not a single sound for comfort. Just silence.

Peter’s condition had only been worsening the longer he spent in the void. He was beginning to fade a bit faster, the majority of his leg now looking like a painting with only one layer of light paint. He was hardly worried about that, though, or the fact that he was coughing up more and more blood every day. No, the thing that was scaring him the most was the solitude. It hurt him far more than fading was. It hurt more than when the Vulture had dropped that building on him. He longed to hear a voice, to see a face. To reach out and feel a heartbeat instead of just cold air. He tried to remember things from back home. He remembered Aunt May. He remembered MJ, Ned, and Mindy. He thought about the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. How cool it was that magic actually existed. He even thought about Flash if he was miserable enough. That gave him less comfort than the other memories, but at least it was something.

Disintegrating was something he wished he could forget. No matter how hard he tried, though, it was always with him. The feeling of losing all control, of not being able to stop the burning sensation from crawling up his body and consuming him. The look of horror on Mr. Stark’s face as he had choked out a final apology for letting him down before everything flashed gold, and he was in Hell. He wondered if the others were in similar places. Maybe they each had their own person Hells, like how in the show ‘Supernatural’, everyone had their own personal Heaven.

If he was in his own Hell, it was definitely effective. He had blacked out for who knows how long multiple times, and had at least three panic attacks. His spidey senses were going haywire, and he was starting to hear voices. Had he not already been dead, he was pretty sure he would have done it himself. Alas, he was dead, and so there was no escape. Only Hell.

 

Thor and Bruce sat in the courtyard, the calming atmosphere doing them both some good. Bruce had yet to get the Hulk to come out of his shell, and he couldn't figure out why. He was happy, of course, to not have to worry about suddenly killing hundreds of innocent people, but it concerned him all the same. 

Scott arrived earlier that day, his posture that of a dying man, and his eyes dead and cold. He had listened as they explained what was going on, and left for his room right after. He had yet to come back down and speak to anyone. Not even Steve, who had sent a transmission as soon as he heard the Ant Man had arrived. They were all worried about him, but knew that hovering would only make things worse. Scott had lost so much. They all had. It made situations like these easier as they could all relate to the feeling of emptiness. A feeling that sucked everything away. Even the will for revenge.

Clint came soon after, bow in his hand and quiver at his hip. He had gone over what going on, and sent a transmission to the crew in space to see what they were doing. He agreed with their ideas, and laughed when Tony began ranting about Shuri stealing his job.

"Well, she does have better toys," the archer chuckled.  
"'She does have batter toys'" Tony mimicked. "I have the best toys! No body has cooler stuff than me! Everyone knows that!" He complained, glaring at Clint when he continued to laugh.  
"Hey, Tony. In all seriousness, I'm sorry about the kid. I know you liked him. That must have been hard for you," Clint said, his expression sombering.  
"Yeah, but we'll get him back. We will," Tony assured. Clint sighed when the transmission ended and headed up to his own room. This was an absolute nightmare. 

 

Golden light surrounded Bucky as he sat up slowly, looking around in confusion. The last thing he remembered was being Wakanda and disintegrating into ash, calling in confusion for Steve. Steve. Where was Steve? Bucky wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but it must have been days at least. "Steve?" He called, voice hoarse. "Steve? STEVE!" He yelled, searching desperately for any sign of the man, but to no avail. "Where are you?" Bucky whispered, his mind presenting hundreds of different scenarios, all of which ended with Steve in danger or dead, and Bucky stranded and alone of the rest of time.  
Unlike Peter, Bucky didn't walk and yell. He just found a shallow cave and started sharpening rocks in case something tried to attack him. He doubted it would, though, as be was almost positive that he was alone in the golden place. He reached into his pocket and pulled put a crumpled piece of paper containing an intricately drawn wolf that Steve had made him. "I miss you," Bucky murmured, sitting down and staring at the sketch. "I wanna go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	4. It's only a Matter of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some familiar faces make some appearances, while very major discoveries are made by the crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, kudos, you know the drill on how to make ReveriwBrookes smile! By the way, May the 4th be with you all!  
> ALSO: I wrote this while I was at an important rehearsal, so the theory that is explained may be a little confusing considering I was half asleep and stressed when I wrote it. It you have any questions, feel free to ask me on tumblr (URL in Endnotes), or just comment it.

Thor sat alone in the courtyard, staring sadly out at the horizon. There had been no major meeting that day, at least none that required the Avengers presence, and so he had finally been given some time to mull over all that had happened. It was in those quiet hours that he felt the full blow of the loss of Loki.  
He had thought of Loki as many things throughout his life. When they were young, brothers. A little later on in life, rivals. Enemies when he first came to Earth, and enemies again the second time. They were allies when Jane was possessed by the darkness, and when they were both trapped on the Grand Master’s planet. They were friends when they fought in the name of Asgard, and saved their people. And finally, when Loki had made his final stand against Thanos and sacrificed the Tesseract and his life for Thor, they had been brothers once more.  
He knew that there were small ways that Loki could still possibly be alive. At first he had been expecting Loki to show up again and tell him that it had been a clone that Thanos had suffocated. A clone who Thor had cried for, but he never had. By now, Thor had given up hope that his brother would return to him. Loki was well and truly dead. Just like his mother and father. He hoped that they were together, and that that Odin had forgiven Loki.  
Thor had spoken to Scott Lang earlier. He had been the only one who was able to. It hadn’t been a very long conversation and the majority of the time was spent sitting in silence. He’d asked Scott about his daughter, and in turn Scott had asked him about Loki. They had parted ways after the conversation was over, both feeling a bit better than before.  
Okoye had alerted them that Secretory Ross had once again spoke about wanting the Avengers, this time seeming slightly more threatening. The general had assured them that they were still safe in Wakanda, but Ross could easily get public opinion on his side. The world was mourning the loss of millions, and they needed someone to blame. Ross may not share the Avenger’s views, but he was not a stupid man. He knew just as well as they did that he could built an image against the group. Many people would see through it of course, but not everyone. The world was filled with scared, desperate people. A few well thought out phrases, and Ross had himself an army.  
“Hey Thor!” Clint called. “A message just came in from the ship!” Tony had decided to send daily reports to keep the part of the team that was based on Earth up to date on everything that was going on, no matter how boring or ridicules. The God of Thunder sighed and got up to see what update Tony had sent. When he reached the meeting room, he found Clint, Bruce, and Okoye huddled around the screen where the messages usually came in.  
“Thor, a message has just come in from Stark,” Okoye explained, making room for him to look. 

Earth,  
Something weird’s going on. Have to sort it out. Could be good or bad. Call in once we figure it out.  
-Stark

“What does it mean?” Bruce asked.  
“No idea,” Thor replied, brow furrowed. “When did this arrive? Did he send anything else?”  
“It came in five minutes ago. Given the lag time while messages travel from space to Earth using our technology, I believe that it was sent about twenty minutes previously,” Okoye replied. “We have not received anything since.”  
“So, we have no way of knowing what’s going on up there? Has anyone sent a response?”  
“Yes, that’s the first thing we did!” Clint replied in exasperation.  
“What could possibly be going on up there?” Okoye asked. 

 

“GUYS! WHY THE HELL IS THERE A MAN WITH A FLYING CLOAK IN THE KITCHEN!” Shuri screamed. She had gotten up in the night to get water and walked into the kitchen only to find the unconscious form of a man in a blue tunic lying on the floor, a red cloak levitating protectively above him.  
The sound of running footsteps echoed throughout the ship as the crew grabbed their weapons and converged in the kitchen, all staring in varying states of confusion at the man on the floor. Tony shoved past the others to get a closer look. When Shuri had said ‘flying cloak’, his mind had immediately jumped to a certain doctor. It was impossible, though, he had chastised himself. Dr. Strange had disintegrated just like half the population. He was gone. It was with this war raging in his mind that Tony shoved his way to the front, and gasped when he saw none other than Stephen Strange laying in the middle of their kitchen, time stone clutched tightly in his hand.  
“Strange?” he whispered.  
“Your telling me,” Steve replied in astonishment. “Where the heck did he come from?”  
“No, that’s Dr. Strange!” Tony corrected. “And really? Hell is not a swear,” he said, crouching down by the other man and checking for a pulse, still unable to believe that the doctor was really there. “He has a pulse!” Tony declared, shaking him in an attempt to wake him up.  
“This is Dr. Strange?” Natasha asked.  
“Yeah, yeah it is,” Tony replied distractedly, continuing to poke and prod at the man as he slowly came to.  
“Hold up, hold up, I thought he disintegrated on Titan,” Rocket said, walking over and poking the doctor harshly in the face, making his eyes pop open.  
“He did, so I don’t know how he’s here,” Tony said, shooting Rocket a dirty look as he helped his fallen friend to his feet. “Strange? Strange, you with us?”  
“Tony?” he asked, looking around. He seemed confused for a moment before his eyes widened and he opened his necklace, making sure the time stone was still there. “Quickly, what day is it? How long since Titan?”  
“Woah, woah, woah. Hold it right there. First, you’re gonna tell us what’s going on. Did anyone alert Earth?” Natasha asked.  
“Yeah, I sent them a quick message,” Tony replied, showing the others.  
“'Earth, Something weird’s going on. Have to sort it out. Could be good or bad. Call in once we figure it out. -Stark'” Shuri read, raising an eyebrow. “Wow, I’m sure they’re not worried in the slightest,” she said.  
“Oh I’m sorry, I was kinda busy,” Tony sassed back. “Anyway, Nat is right. Strange, how the hell are you here? I was on Titan, I saw you- I saw you die,” Tony said. “I’m gonna need an explanation." The doctor sighed and sat down on one of the chairs, eyeing the others wearily.  
“You remember before the fight, how I was looking into the possible futures? Well as I said, there was only one possible way to win. That way was to fight the battle with Thanos to whatever end it might have, but leave a message for my past self, and have him use the time stone to go to the future, like I just did,” he explained.  
“Um… what?” Rocket asked while the others tried to make sense of what the doctor had just said. Strange sighed and rolled his eyes.  
“Have you ever seen back to the future?”  
“Quill talked about it a bit.”  
“I did that. I sent my past self to the future to give you the stone. Now it required an awful lot of energy, so would someone mind showing a place I can rest?” he asked, holding his forehead in his hand to stop the room from spinning.  
“Alright, someone get the good doctor a bed,” Tony instructed. Shuri nodded and helped the doctor to his feet and lead him out of the room. Tony would later be furious to find that Shuri had in fact brought him to Tony’s bed. He may have kept his top bunk safe from Steve, but for the next ten hours, it would be held hostage by a sleeping wizard and his flying cloak. 

“So, you think he’s telling the truth?” Steve asked Tony, who was still staring at where the doctor had been sitting.  
“I mean, I want to. More than anything, I want to. I mean, what reason would Thanos have for giving us the time stone?”  
“Do we know it’s the real time stone though?” Natasha pointed out. “It could be some other crazy villian out there that has some mad plan.”  
“Well, whatever it is, we should send word to Earth. Maybe one of Strange’s friends can confirm if it’s really him or not. If any of this is even possible,” Steve suggested.  
“Yeah, alright,” Tony agreed. “Let’s send them a transmission, see if they can get in contact with someone from Strange’s weird Sanctum thing.” 

 

Rhodey was the one watching the monitors when the transmission request from the ship came in. He quickly accepted and hit a small button on the side of the screen that would alert the others that the call was happening.  
“Heya Rhodey!” Tony said, his face splitting into a grin. “Good to see you again. The others coming? I’ve got news.”  
“They should be here in a sec,” Rhodey replied, already hearing the door burst open. “Here’s Thor,” he said, just as the God of Thunder ran into the screen’s view.  
“Sup Point Break,” he greeted, nodding when Scott and Bruce came in sleepily, followed by Okoye and Clint.  
“Stark! What is happening up there, is everything alright?” Okoye asked.  
“Well, we’re gonna need you to make some calls. Shuri went to get some water and found Dr. Strange laying in the middle of the kitchen. He says that he had some master plan in which he left a note for his past self to bring the time stone to the future to give to us. I was hoping you can call up some of his friends, I believe one of their name's is Wong…? We need some sort of confirmation as to if it’s possible.  
“Alright, anything important I should mention?” Rhodey asked, preparing a message to send to the Sanctum.  
“Not really. Mention that he had the time stone, had all the right memories from Titan, and is currently sleeping like a dog in MY bed,” Tony instructed.  
“You lost your top bunk?” Rhodey said knowingly.  
“Yes. Yes I did.”  
“Alright, I sent a message,” Bruce said. “I’ll alert you when they get back to me.” Tony nodded his thanks and ended the message, leaving the group alone in the room.  
“Well, I’m going back to bed,” Clint said with a yawn, heading back through the doors. Scott followed soon after, muttering something about needing his sleep along with Bruce and Thor.  
“Have you heard any news from Pepper and May?” Okoye asked Rhodey, catching him off guard.  
“What?” he asked, wondering if he’d heard wrong.  
“They seemed quite distressed last time I heard from them,” the general said. “I was wondering if they were any better.”  
“May is still quite upset, Pepper’s been letting her stay in the compound,” Rhodey explained. “She’s putting all her hope in the crew.”  
“Everyone is,” Okoye replied. “You are dismissed, I can watch the monitors for the rest of the night,” she said after a few minutes. “You seem tired.” Rhodey smiled at her gratefully before heading off to his room and flopping down onto his bed. It was going to be a long, hard, fight. 

 

Peter could feel the blood trickling through his veins. He didn’t like it. It felt too cold, and than too hot. He hadn’t left the cave he was hiding in for days. He wasn’t sure what was wrong. Every so often the golden light would fade and he’d catch a glimpse of the real world. The real Titan. Than, suddenly, he’d be sucked back into Hell, and the sickness would get worse. He had long stopped talking to himself, and acknowledging any change around him. He only watched with vague interest as he slowly continued to fade, wondering idaly if he’d get to go to Heaven if he did fade.  
He still saw the shadows. Still thought he heard the voices of everyone who had faded on Titan with him, but no longer called out for them, or even turned to look. He had just given up. 

 

The night was dark and Okoye stood at the Wakanda boarder, no guards accompanying her. After about two hours of watching the monitors she had gotten an alert and left them to one of the passing guards to handle while she headed out to greet the newcomer. Normally she would not have gone out to see someone who was not of Wakanda alone, let along let them within the wall. This was a different case though.  
She waited for about ten minutes before she saw anything. Finally, though, a figure emerged from the shadows.  
“Hello Okoye,” the figure said. The general inclined her head and stepped aside to allow the other woman through the wards.  
“Good evening Carol Danvers,” she replied. “We have much to discuss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	5. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two of our lost boys meet, infinity stones are discussed, Scott gets some of his emotions out, and we get a theory about what's wrong with Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm seeing Infinity War again tomorrow, and i'm going to try and not start crying over the death of fictional characters this time! I can almost guarantee it won't work. AS always, please leave comments and kudos. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I don’t wanna go… I don’t wanna go… I don’t wanna go… I don’t wanna go… Mr. Stark? Peter turned slowly to look at the silhouette of what looked just like the iron man suit. The image vanished quickly, and Peter looked away, feeling stupid to have fallen for it again.  
I don’t wanna go… I don’t wanna go… I don’t wanna go… I don’t wanna go… Bucky?  
Peter stared at the figure that had just appeared in the entrance of the cave. It was Bucky Barnes, the real, actual, Bucky Barnes.  
“Peter?” the soldier asked in confusion, looking around. Like Peter, he was also beginning to fade, just not as quickly. He wasn’t sick like Peter was either, but just as terrified.  
“A-are you r-real?” Peter asked hesitantly, voice course and wavering from disuse.  
“I think so,” Bucky replied, slowly approaching the terrified hero. Terrified child, Bucky realized. He had not really seen Peter up close before, not without his mask on at least. He only knew the kids name from Steve, who had found out from Rhodey. He sat down slowly and reached out to gently rest his hand on the kids shoulder, who’s eyes widened as he realized that the soldier was actually there.  
“H-how are you here? I was alone,” Peter said, allowing Bucky to move closer and put his arm around the kids shoulders.  
“I’m not sure, I was walking around and than suddenly the golden light just kinda split, and I managed to jump through. It was only for a second, but I managed to get here. I wandered for a bit, and then I heard you coughing, and now I’m here,” Bucky recounted. “What’s been going on here?” he asked, taking in the kids battered appearance.  
“Nothing,” Peter whispered. “I want to go home. I miss New York. I miss Aunt May, I miss Mr. Stark, I miss Happy, I miss MJ, and Ned, and Mindy, Hell I even miss Flash!” Peter exclaimed, trying not to cry.  
“It’s okay, we’re gonna get back, it’s okay,” Bucky assured him, trying to sound confident. He knew that solitary confinement was like, it had been a part of his training as the Winter Soldier. Even having done it before, it was breaking him. He didn’t want to think about a kid with absolutely no training having to do it as well, especially with his injuries. “Why are you so sick?” Bucky finally asked.  
“Don’t know,” Peter replied, coughing up more blood. “It’s something to do with the golden light, it doesn’t work right here. It flashes, you know? Sort of breaks to show the real Titan.”  
“Titan?”  
“The planet where we fought Thanos. Where we all died. Everyone except Mr. Stark, he was okay. He was upset though, I hope it wasn’t my fault,” Peter said weakly, coughing again and leaning heavily into Bucky’s side. “It hurts,” he whimpered as a bit more of his right hand faded. Bucky was shocked. He hadn't been fading nearly as quickly. What was going on with this kid? 

 

“Wakey, wakey,” the voice of Tony Stark said, waking Dr. Strange from his ten hour sleep. “I wish we had eggs and bacon, but I suppose protein packets will have to do. The best in the galaxy.”  
“Stark. So it wasn’t a dream,” the doctor stated, finguring the time stone around his neck.  
“‘Fraid not. By the way, your cleared. We got in contact with your friend Wong, and he confirmed that your story is possible. He also confirmed that this is the real time stone. Now that that’s cleared up, we shall be discussing ways to use it to bring back all of our friends, so hurry up.”  
“Tony, you know I can’t go back in time to change anything, right?” Strange said, making Tony freeze where he stood.  
“I’m sorry, repeat?”  
“There is not possible way to change what happened. I can’t use it to bring them back,” the doctor explained.  
“Then what was the point!” Tony exclaimed in dismay. He’d been so close to getting everyone back. To being able to fix everything that had broken, only to be shoved back into the beginning of the board.  
“Relax, there are other ways to save them and defeat Thanos. It will just take time. I know about what Mindy said to you, I saw it when I was checking out the future. If the universe is angry, and the soul stone left a loophole, than we can reassemble the infinity stones to reverse what Thanos did.”  
“Also, the time stone can help trace the other stones,” Shuri said from the doorway. “I just used it’s energy to get a hit on Thanos. He seems to have two, along with the gauntlet.”  
“Are we sure it’s Thanos? I mean, he could have been sucked into the soul stone too,” Tony pointed out.  
“Stark has a point,” Dr. Strange agreed. “I don’t know exactly what future played out, so I’m not sure if he was obliterated with the more unfortunate half of the population or not.”  
“Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” Tony said with a lot more enthusiasm than he was feeling. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’d like to figure out the quickest way to get Peter and the others back to the real world.” 

 

Bucky was worried about the half conscious kid beside him. He seemed like he was going to pass out, which Bucky hadn’t even thought was possible in the weird, alternate, world they were in now. He was very confused as to why Peter was so sick, and he was fine. He wished that there was another person that he could compare his and Peter’s states to in order to see which was more normal.  
Bucky was lost in thoughts until a small voice brought him back to himself. “Mr. Barnes, sir, how are we going to get out of here?”  
“I don’t know, kid. For now I think we’ll just have to wait and hope someone from the other side figures out we’re here.” Bucky knew the chances of that happening were slim, but he refused to give up hope. People galaxy wide were probably trying to get loved ones back, and he knew that Tony and Steve would get dragged into the void themselves rather than give up on Bucky and Peter.  
“Do you think Mr. Stark is looking for us?”  
“Of course he is. I’ll bet he’s annoying the hell out of the others to get it done. I’m guessing they haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep since we went missing,” Bucky said with a smile, hoping it would cheer the kid up. Peter smiled and let out a small laugh.  
“I miss sleep.”  
“Yeah, me too. I’ve tried to sleep so many times, but it just doesn’t work. It’s like we’re just frozen in one plain of being.” Peter hummed in agreement and lay back against Bucky’s side.  
“I feel like I should be sleeping, like my body needs to sleep, but doesn’t at the same time. Like I’m running on fumes, permanently,” Peter murmured, his words jumbling a bit. “Why am I so sick, and you’re fine?” he asked, opening one eye to look at Bucky questioningly.  
“I don’t know,” the soldier replied, wishing he could answer the kids question. “Maybe it has something to do with that spider bite. I mean, you said the golden stuff keeps on being disrupted and showing you the real Titan, perhaps it’s the radioactive energy or something,” Bucky considered.  
“Perhaps,” Peter agreed. “I wish it would stop. My insides feel cold, but my skin is hot,” he grumbled after a moment's pause. “I don’t like it.”  
“I know,” Bucky replied, his mind immediately reminding him of how cold his veins had felt after being injected by hundreds of different serums by strange scientists in white masks while he remained chained down. “I know.” 

 

The arrival of Carol Danvers, or as she was known, Captain Marvel, had been quite the conversation topic. She seemed nice enough to Clint, though her green uniform reminded him a bit of Loki. He never told her that, but he thought about the god of mischief every time he saw her.  
Her arsenal of abilities proved quite interesting, and she trained with all of them in turn, usually winning or tying. She had looked over everything they had collected and confirmed that Nick and Maria were gone, along with the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D. She had taken an interest in the case of the missing Hulk, and was currently trying to help Bruce bring him out of his cage, but had yet to succeed. The only time the Hulk would come out to play would be to yell a stubborn ‘no’, leaving them just as confused as when they started.  
Clint was heading up to bring a message to Scott. Okoye was calling a meeting and she wanted them all there, especially those who had been ditching every other meeting. Clint was to drag the Ant-man down to the meeting room if he had to. Okoye didn’t care what happened as long as they were both present.  
The archer turned the corner and opened Scott’s door to find the man staring mournfully at the suit which was dressed neatly on a training dummy.  
“Mr. Pym called,” he said, not turning His voice was void of emotion like before, and his shoulders were slouched. "He wants to know where I ran off to.”  
“And what did you tell him?” Clint asked carefully, not knowing what kind of mood Scott was in at the moment. He was either very vulnerable, or very touchy. Clint had no idea.  
“I don’t know, I haven’t responded. I don’t want to respond.”  
“Why not?” Clint asked, taking a few steps closer to the other man until he was right beside him.  
“Because than he’ll ask why I left, and I’ll have to tell him that there was nothing worth staying for, and then he’ll know. It will be real,” Scott replied, voice cracking on the last word. Before Clint knew what was happening there was a superhero sobbing into his chest, and he was trying his best to be comforting.  
“Do you want me to have Okoye cancel the meeting?” Clint asked gently as Scott began to settle.  
“No,” he sniffed. “No, I’ve missed enough. Just-just don’t mention this, like, ever,” he said, looking away.  
“As you wish,” Clint replied, leading Scott down the hall and to the large room where the others were waiting. If they noticed the redness of Scott’s eyes and the tear stains on Clint’s jacket, they made no comment and just continued on as usual, perhaps being a bit nicer to Scott than normal. 

 

Steve and Natasha looked at the closed door that lead to Tony and Steve’s room. Tony had locked himself in with the transmitter, and had been talking to May Parker for the last hour. They both spoke in hushed voices so no one could tell what was being said, but they were worried.  
“He can't keep beating himself up over this,” Natasha whispered to Steve, who nodded his agreement. “I mean, it can’t be healthy.”  
“trust me, it’s not,” said Dr. Strange, gliding over to join them. The others were still not over the flying cape, and he had already gotten three different offers from Rocket to buy it, all of which had been refused. “You should have seen his face on Titan though. He was terrified. He’s definitely not getting over that one.”  
“Wait, I thought future you was on Titan, so how would you know?” Steve questioned.  
“Because, I still looked at the possible outcomes. I know what happened,” the doctor explained. “I also know that you lost someone important to you,” he said, turning to Steve. “We will get them back,” he promised, noticing the way Steve clutched something in his pocket.  
“I know,” the super soldier replied with a nod before heading off to the cockpit to check on Shuri and see how her tracking was going. They would reach the location of the gauntlet and two stones within the next two days. They all just prayed that they wouldn’t be too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumble: LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	6. My Immortal

Nebula had been distancing herself from the others on Wakanda since day one. She went to meals and meetings, but never spoke and usually hung in the back, making people often forget she was there. The only time anyone ever really saw her was when they were passing the training rooms late at night and caught a glimpse of her tearing training dummies apart with lethal looking swords and knives whose designs were not found on planet Earth.

Okoye talked to her more than anyone else, usually just asking questions about Thanos, and weather or not Nebula thought that he’d return to Earth. Nebula truthfully had no idea if he would be coming back or not. She didn’t even know if he was alive. All she knew was that if they did meet again, she’d be ready, and she’d destroy him. She'd rip him apart and burn him to ash as he had done to the Guardians of the Galaxy. She’d throw him off a hundred foot drop like he had down to Gamora. She’d break him apart and make him scream as he had done to her. She wouldn’t kill him though. Not until he had seen his work undone. Not until he had watched the infinity stones be reunited and used to bring back everyone they’d lost.

“I know what you’re thinking, and I completely agree,” the voice of Thor said, interrupting Nebula’s late night training session. “He strangled my brother and killed half my people. He will pay for each and every one of them.”

“I assume the others are not overly fond of this revenge idea?” Nebula asked.

“Not as happy or enthusiastic as myself, but we are not called the Avengers for nothing. We will do what we must in order to save our planet, and those who matter. And at the end of the day, Thanos shall pay for his many crimes against us.” Nebula smiled coldly.

“Oh, he will. I assume you plan on using that ax?” she asked, gesturing to the weapon in the God of Thunder’s hands.

“I had it forged specially for this purpose,” he replied proudly. “Thanos had destroyed the forges and killed most of the dwarves that lived there, but one was left, and anything can be repaired.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Nebula murmured, thinking of her sister.

“Of course,” Thor said, realising his mistake. “Okoye is holding a meeting first thing tomorrow, we’re expecting news from Stark and the crew. Last we heard, Shuri was using the time stone to try and find the others.” Nebula nodded.

“I will be there,” she said. Thor nodded and headed back up to his room to get ready for bed, leaving Nebula alone in the training room.

When morning came Nebula was one of the first in the meeting room, and gave Shuri any information she could about safe houses of Thanos’ that she remembered, helping the other woman narrow down a location on the stones. The others seemed quite surprised by her sudden helpfulness, but no one questioned it, choosing instead to be grateful for the new information.

 

Bucky was beginning to see what Peter meant about the golden light not being the same for him. Every so often there would be surges, and it would start shifting and would occasionally reveal what Bucky assumed to be the real Titan. Whenever this happened Peter seemed to get agitated, usually clawing at his head or mumbling incoherently. It seemed to be happening more frequently as well, and whenever it did, Peter would look more faded. One time it was so harsh that it shook the entire planet it seemed, and Bucky watched in horror as the golden light seemed to rip apart around them. Peter clung to his shoulder, eyes screwed shut and entire body tense in pain. Bucky wasn’t sure what was happening until he looked at the gold and saw two girls looking back at him. One was about Peters age with dark skin and curly hair, and the other was a year or two younger with short cut brown hair, green eyes, and a green leather jacket.

“Parker?” the first girl asked, looking at Peter with mild concern.

“MJ? Mindy?” Peter asked in confusion, watching as they came in and out of focus as the golden light tried and failed to repair itself. The two girls couldn’t get through like Bucky had, but they could be seen and heard.

“Peter, you look terrible,” Mindy observed. “We’re not nearly as bad. Neither is the Winter Soldier,” she said, looking Bucky up and down.

“How do you know it’s me?” Bucky asked in confusion, knowing he had never seen either girl in his life.

“The metal arm,” MJ answered. “Peter wouldn’t stop talking about how cool it was once we figured out his secret and asked for a recount. Honesty, out of everything that’s what he remembered most. Mindy’s right though, you look awful, dude,” MJ said, directing the last part at Peter.

“How are you too together? Did you break through the light as well?" Bucky asked.

“No, this is the first time this has happened. MJ was helping me practice a dance for the next play, and then suddenly we were dust. Our best guess is that the ash must have merged or something since we were in such close proximity,” Mindy explained.

“Have you got any idea what’s going on with him?" Bucky asked.

"No clue, but it looks like it has something to do with the golden light," MJ said, watching it shift and change. "See, he's fading quicker." Bucky looked down at the kid and realized that MJ was right. He was fading far to quickly, his right arm a full five shades lighter than the rest of him making it practically transparent.

"We need to fix the light, the longer it stays like this the worse he'll get," Mindy said. Bucky nodded and shook Peter gently to get his attention.

"Peter, we need you to focus," Bucky murmured once he was sure the boy was listening. "Focus on closing the light back up. Focus," Bucky instructed. "Just let it go." Peter nodded minutely and closed his eyes, trying to do as Bucky had instructed. Soon the light began to waver and shift, the figures of MJ and Mindy fading in and out of focus. As the light fixed itself, Bucky heard Mindy call one last thing through the gap. 

"Mr. Stark is coming for you, Peter. I told him to, the universe told him to," she said, her voice fading as the wall of light closed again and Peter stopped fading. 

"Good job, kid," Bucky said, letting Peter lean on his shoulder again.

"Is Mr. Stark coming for us? Peter asked, having picked up what Mindy had said with his enhanced hearing. 

"Of course he is," Bucky assured him. "He'll be here before you know it."

 

Tony sat silently on his bed which he had gotten back from Dr. Strange upon the man's awakening. Steve was with Shuri, as was Natasha. Rocket was currently piloting, and Tony had no clue where Strange was. His anxiety had been worsening throughout the day, and his brain certainly wasn't helping with all the high definition replays it was supplying of Peter's death. 

He was a kid, not a soldier. He shouldn't have even been an Avenger. Thanos was going to pay, and Tony would help fix that kid if it killed him. He remembered taking away Peter's suit after the ferry fiasco, and how much he had regretted it when had finally dragged the truth of what had happened that night out of the boy. He had felt hollow than, like he had failed a mission. Like he had after Sacovia. He hadn't felt that way since. Not until he had heard the kid begging for his life on Titan as he dissolved to ash through Tony's fingers. 

"It's the kid, isn't it," Dr. Strange said, climbing onto the bunk and sitting beside Tony. 

"How did you know?" He asked, not looking up. 

"I've been keeping an eye on you all day, your anxiety's been acting up. I can tell," Strange explained. "I know he was important to you. It's the part I hated most about this future. Watching you lose him."

"We all lost someone," Tony said dismissively, trying to deflect. While it might have worked for anyone else, the doctor didn't plan on letting Tony off easy on this one.

"It still hurts though. It still warrants tears when you realise you couldn't protect the people you promised you would."

"Do you have a point?" Tony asked, back to Stephen. 

"My point is, you have just as much right to mourn as everyone else. If you keep trying to freeze out everything that hurts you, you'll be left as nothing but a ghost, and a ghost isn't going to save Peter. A ghost will only hurt him more." Tony sighed annoyance when he realised that, yet again, the doctor was right.

"God, what I wouldn't do for a drink," Tony grumbled, raising an eyebrow when Stephen handed him one of his own bottles from his bar back in the tower. 

"I had a feeling you'd say that, so I took the liberty of getting you one," he explained. Tony gratefully accepted the offered glass and drink, pouring some for the doctor, and then himself. "So, did I choose correctly?" Strange asked as Tony took a sip. 

"Hell yeah you did," Tony replied, taking another sip before refilling his glass. "I have a feeling others will not be too pleased with us," he said. Dr. Strange hummed in agreement and refilled his own glass as well. 

"Well, no one ever said that this was a public matter," Strange said with a shrug towards the closed and locked door. "Besides, I believe you have built up what is known as a tolerance." Tony smirked and took another sip, relishing the taste of the alcohol in his mouth. 

"I'm getting drunk in space with a wizard," he said with a laugh. "Who woulda guessed? I suppose we can get along."

"Well it's certainly less tense than Titan," the doctor pointed out. 

"You are right once again," Tony said with a grimace at the mention of Titan. "We're gonna get that kid back," he said with determination. "And then you're gonna magic the hell outta that giant, demon, grape," Tony instructed. 

"Alright," Stephen said with a laugh, closing the bottle and taking Tony's cup. "I believe that's enough for now. You should get to bed," the mystic arts master instructed. Tony nodded sadly and covered himself in blankets, clapping to turn off the lights in the room Stephen cast him one more worried look before leaving the room and hiring the bottle and glasses in his bag.

 

Steve, Natasha, and Shuri stood around Shuri's tracking machine with baited breath as they waited for an exact location. With the time stone's energy signature and Nebula's information, they had been able to narrow down there search range by a lot. 

They were about a days flight from the general area of Thanos and his stones, and now they might have an exact location. The loading button spun tainting in front of them as Shuri growling at the machine to hurry up. Steve was so focused on the screen that he didn't even correct Shuri when she started spitting strings of swears at the slow technology.

Suddenly, it beeped. There eyes widened and Shuri let out s victory cry as they saw a small red dot hovering over a part of the screen. "WE GOT IT!"


	7. Where are You Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ross is the worst, and Tony regrets drinking. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back! Just wanted to say thank you for all the support I've been getting on this! Anyone has any ideas or suggestions, hit me up in the comments, or the wondrous world of tumblr!

The ship was quite that night, Tony and Stephen having both gone to sleep mysteriously quickly in rooms that smelled slightly of alcohol. Shuri had promised to give them hell come morning and Rocket had decided to try and steal their bottle. He had looked for hours, but had found nothing. The doctor had taken special precautions knowing that Rocket would try and steal the bottle, and had stowed it in a different dimension.

Steve was the only one still awake, as he was watching the main controls to make sure everything was going alright. Shuri had showed them each the basics so that she wouldn’t have to stay awake all night every night. Steve reached into his pocket and unfolded his photo, looking at it for the fifth time that day. The picture now had deep creases because of the amount of times it had been folded and unfolded in such a short time, and was weathered with age.

“You might wanna laminate that,” Natasha said, slinking into the cockpit. “You’ve been looking at it basically everyday, eventually it’s gonna rip,” she continued when she didn’t get a response.

“I don’t wanna change it,” he finally replied. Natasha nodded and sat down in the seat beside him.

“We’re gonna get him back, Steve.”

“Yeah, just miss him.” They sat in silence, watching the lights flickering on the various screens until Natasha finally sighed in exasperation.

“This unspoken ‘thing’ you two have got going on, it’s gotta stop. You had better get it sorted out the second he gets back, or I will,” she said, glaring at the man beside her. She expected some sort of resistance, but was met only with a resigned sigh.

“You know, that’s the one thing I regret not doing,” Steve said, casting his gaze back down to the picture in his hands.

“Exactly,” Natasha replied. “Now, we’ll be arriving at the location tomorrow morning, I need to make sure you’re going to be able to handle this. Tony told me what happened with Quill on Titan, so I’m going around to check with everyone.”

“Anyone staying behind?”  
“No, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on Tony. I know that Thanos will probably end up trying to use everyone against us, so we need to be ready, and not flip out,” Natasha replied. “So, can you still do this?”

“Yes,” Steve replied instantly. “I’m gonna be there.” Natasha eyed him carefully for a moment before nodding.

“Alright. Just don’t let him get in your head. The only way we can get Bucky and the others is by keeping our cool.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on the others as well.” Natasha nodded and than got up. “You should get some sleep, I’ll take over here,” she said, pulling Steve out of the chair. The soldier nodded and slipped into the room he and Tony were bunked in, not surprised when the other man didn’t stir at his presence. He was definitely gonna be hungover in the morning.

 

Peter and Bucky had decided to venture out of the cave that they had been staying in. It had been nice to get to move around again, even it did mean having to see more of the weird gold light.

“Hey, at least there’s nothing we need to carry,” Peter said as they walked along Fake Titan’s grounds. “I wonder if we’ll find anything.” Peter seemed to be doing better than the previous day, having a lot more energy to move and speak. He was still fading a lot faster than Bucky was, and he would occasionally be forced to double over in a painful looking fit of coughing, but other than that he was fine.

“Maybe. I never found anything when I was walking around here, or on my planet though,” Bucky warned, not wanting to get the kid’s hopes up only to crush them when they found nothing of use.

“You know, if this place had just a bit more lava, it would look like a golden version of Mustafar,” Peter observed, making Bucky glance over at him in confusion. “Oh, don’t tell me you’ve never seen Star Wars!” Peter exclaimed. “You haven’t?” Bucky shook his head and Peter sighed in mock offence. “That is a crime, dude. A crime.”

“What is it?” Bucky asked. Peter grinned and launched into an explanation, starting off on what he had called, ‘A New Hope’.

 

“Woah, woah, woah, Darth Vader is Luke’s father?” Bucky asked. They had finished New Hope and were now onto Empire Strikes back.

“Yeah, I was surprised too,” Peter agreed.

“Who’s his mother?”  
“You’ll find out in the prequels. So anyway, Luke is all like ‘NOOOOO!’ and Vader’s doing his whole ‘Join me and together we’ll rule everything,” spiel, and then he cuts his hand off.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah! And then Luke just kinda drops through this giant wired tunnel, and falls through so that he’s hanging in the middle of Cloud City.” Bucky listened attentively as Peter continued to explain the plot of al the Star Wars movies as they walked. As he was about to start the prequels he warned Bucky that they were much more disappointing and romance, but Bucky was fine with that. He’d take all the entertainment he could get.

 

Captain Marvel was the one who brought the news. They were all standing in the meeting room when she came flying in, her face creased with worry.

“I’ve got news you guys,” she said.

“What is it?” Nebula asked.

“It’s Ross. He wants you guys back in your cages, and he wants you there now. He’s putting a lot of pressure on the Wakanda ambassadors.”

“How much support does he have?” Bruce asked.

“I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a S.E.A.L team runs headlong into that border shield,” she replied darkly.

“I’ll alert the guards,” Okoye replied.

“What happens if they do come?” Scott asked. The others nodded. A team wouldn’t be able to make it past the border wall unless invited, but would Wakanda be willing to risk it’s new found relationships with America over a few refugees?

“We fight them. A group of humans doesn’t have a chance against us, I mean let’s be honest,” Bruce said.

“Hey!” Clint said indignantly. “You happen to be human too, or did you forget that Hulk is currently pouting in his corner of your mind?”

“Fine, but we still have Thor,” Bruce pointing out. Said God of Thunder smiled and raised his ax.

“I do not wish to kill anyone, but I will it I must.”

“And I’ll fight for you too,” Nebula finally said. And don’t forget the shrinking man and bw boy. THey may be human, but they have their uses,” she said, making the humans in question furrow their brows, not sure weather to be complimented or insulted.

“Have they issued my court martial yet?” Rhody asked with a slight smirk.

“Afraid so,” Carol said, handing him an ipad.

“Shit. I was hoping in all the chaos they’d forget about that.”

“Evidently not,” Okoye said, coming back. “The guards are prepared. We will be releasing a statement as well. ‘Any attack against the Avengers is an attack against Wakanda.’ And they do not want to know what will happen if they issue an attack against Wakanda,” Okoye said with a smirk.

“Hey! We’re getting a transmission from Shuri!” Rhody called, making the others hurry over to the screen where Shuri was smiling gleefully from the spacecraft.

“Hello, Earth!” she called.

“Will you keep it down?” the irritated voice of Tony growled from off screen, followed by a groan of pain from who they took to be Dr. Strange.

“What’s their problem?” Thor asked.

“Strange decided it was a good idea to get alcohol for Tony and himself, and now they’re both hangover,” Natasha said, leaning over so the others could see her face. Rhody sighed and facepalmed while the others chuckled.

“Tiny humans. You cannot hold your liquor,” Thor laughed making any human in the room glare at him.

“I can hold my liquor just fine, thank you very much!” Tony called, making Rocket laugh from where he was sitting.

“The second I find that bottle, I’m chugging it,” he said.

“You will do no such thing,” Shuri replied, lightly slapping him. “Anyway, that’s not why I’m calling. We have a set location on the gauntlet and infinity stones, and we’ll be arriving in a few hours,” she said, giddy with anticipation.

“Are you certain?” Okoye asked.

“Am I ever wrong?”

“You were wrong when you thought you could update my ship without permission!” Tony piped up, making Shuri roll her eyes.

“I meant about important things! Anyway, I am positive. I believe that there are at least two stones with the gauntlet, which means that we will have half, if all goes well. If it doesn’t, I’ve sent a detailed description about how my tracking system works. You’ll be able to get another one of Tony’s ships-”

“I never approved that part!”

“Quiet! And then then you’ll be able to go after the other stones. I’m guessing Thanos will want them all back again so that we can’t undo all his work, so it will be a bit of a race,” she said.  
"Yes, I suppose it will," Dr. Strange said, coming into view if the screen.  
"Hey, where's Cap?" Rhody asked.  
"Pining," Natasha answered simply. No one had to ask for clarification on that one.  
"He doing okay?" Bruce asked, voice laced with concern. He knew that Steve was taking the loss of Bucky pretty hard. He'd already had to do it twice, and watch the man be brainwashed. This was the final straw.  
"He's holding together. We all are," Natasha replied. "So, any news from Earth?" She asked, looking around at there faces. "You guys seem worried, what is it?" She asked, eyes narrowing. The others looked st each other uneasily before Okoye finally spoke.  
"It us your Secretary Ross. He wishes the Avengers return to America, and to prison. We have guards posted to intercept any teams that may arrive, but things are quite tense."  
"Son of a bitch!" Toby exclaimed in the background.  
"Language!" Steve snapped, coming out of his room and glaring at the hung over inventor. "I don't care how annoying Ross is! There is no reason to refer to his mother that way!" Shuri stifled a laugh, but not enough to stop the soldier's glare from falling on her next.  
"Do you think he will try to get into Wakanda?" She asked.  
"We do not know. We've sent some spies out, and M'Baku is organizing the defenses, or what is left of them anyway. We lost a lot of warriors to Thanos, both during the fight and after it."  
"Well if all goes to plan you'll be getting some of them back," Natasha said while Rocket nodded furiously. Wakanda was not the only one who desperately needed its people back.

 

"Peter? Peter!" Bucky yelled, shaking the kid to try and get him to focus. Peter had been halfway through the plot of 'The Force Awakens' when suddenly he collapsed. He had been out for what felt like five minutes, but Bucky couldn't be sure as there was no time in their odd little parallel world.  
The man watched in horror as Peter's torso began to loose color, and the golden light started shifting more.  
Bucky lifted the kid up and cover his shoulder and turned to see a large tear appearing in the light again, like it had when he had first come through. He reached for his gun and shifted so the unconscious teenager was less of a target and waited. He could see something coming through, but couldn't tell what.  
"Whaa?" Peter asked, waking slightly when Bucky quickly ducked behind some rocks for more cover.  
"Peter, remember what I told you about closing the golden light back up? Well I need you to do it again," Bucky whispered urgently. Peter closed his eyes and tried to focus, but nothing happened. Finally he cast his gaze back up to Bucky.  
"I can't," he breathed, "somethings coming through," he explained, a gap appearing on his pelvis. Bucky looked up in alarm just in time to see a figure in black leap through the golden light. He raised his gun and started firing, only to see the bullets did nothing to the new comer. He was about to leap out and fight hand to hand when a familiar voice stopped him.  
"Wait! White Wolf! Sargeant Barnes! Bucky!" It called. Bucky lowered his gun and squinted, trying to make out the figure in front of him. The golden light glared in his eyes making it hard to see, but he soon made out a shape as it got closer. He gasped and dropped his gone, running out from behind the rocks to greet the newcomer.  
"King T'Challa, I apologize."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	8. City of the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Infinity stones, T'Challa, and Tony's first glimpse at the golden world, which is WAY worse than it sounds.

Thanos’ planet was beautiful. Blue lakes glittered on it’s surface surrounded by green, leafy planets and canopies of large leaves. Tony hated it. Why should such a vile creature get to have such a rich and luscious home? Natasha seemed to notice his mood shift because she cast him a warning look and rested hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll blow his house of the face of that planet, but we need to stay focused,” she ordered. “Alright, is everybody ready?” she asked, looking around. Everyone had all their gear and were looking down at the planet below. Rocket was stocking his bag full of explosives, and Shuri was preparing the ship to land. Steve was taking one last look at the picture in his pocket while Dr. Strange was doing his weird meditation thing.

“So, doc, how we looking?” Tony asked, patting the other man on the shoulder and breaking him out of his trance. We’re for about sixty eight out of 25,001,” she replied.

“Well, that’s better than last time,” Tony replied, hoping that he sounded more optimistic than he felt. “Hey, Shuri? How’s your landing system working?”

“Much better than yours had,” she replied with a smirk as the ship slowly descended towards the planets surface. I have a cloaking device activated, and a travel sized version of the tracking system,” she said, holding up a small device that looked like a decked out ipod shuffle.

“Great. How far away are we landing?” Steve asked slipping the photo back into his pocket.

“About a half mile. My sensors aren’t picking up any scanners on the planet's surface in his area, so I think we should be good to go,” Shuri repled.

“Excellent. Let’s go kick ass,” Rocket replied, switching the safety off on his blaster.

 

Bucky had just tried to shoot the king of Wakanda. He was so screwed. “I am so sorry,” he apologized again as he ran out to meet T’Challa. “I didn’t realize it was you, I thought maybe Thanos sent someone in or-” he immediately stopped talking when the other man held up a hand for silence.

“It is alright, I would have done the same thing. We are all a little uptight at the moment. Now, is there anyone else here?” T’Challa asked. He remembered seeing another figure when he had first come through the golden light.

“Yes, the Spiderman, do you remember him?”

“Bright suite, talks quite a lot, movie references?” he asked, listing off everything he could remember from the airport. He had not seen Spiderman after that.

“Yeah, that’s him. His name’s Peter Parker, and he’s the reason you could get through the golden light thing.”

“Really? How so?” T’Challa asked, intrigued. He’d been trying to break through the light ever since they arrived, going crazy being trapped alone in such and odd place. He had been unable to figure it out though, so when the light suddenly ripped itself open, he had taken his chance and run with it.

“I’m not entirely sue, I think it’s because of the radioactive spider that gave him his powers. Anyway, you see how we’re starting to fade? “Bucky asked, gesturing to their bodys. Both were missing far less of themselves than Peter, T’Challa beginning to lose his left arm and a part of his torso, while Bucky’s right thigh was almost gone, along with a strip missing from his neck.

“Yes, I was wondering about that,” T’Challa replied as he looked down at his fading body.

“Well, whenever that light starts acting up, Peter starts fading really quickly. He can’t seem to control it, though, it’s like some sort of self destruct or something,” Bucky explained, leading them both over to where Peter was still passed out behind the rocks.

“You are correct, he looks far worse off than either of us,” T’Challa said, taking in the kid’s deathly appearance. “I didn't even know it was possible to pass out in here.

“Me neither, yet here we are,” Bucky agreed. “Have you run into anyone else?”

“No, I was alone until the light let me through. Honestly, I don’t think I would have lasted much longer, I was beginning to see things,” he admit.

“Well, it ain’t much better on this side,” Bucky warned. “It seems with the light being so disturbed, we can see things that are in the real world. I keep on thinking I’m seeing Steve Rogers, and Peter keeps looking for Tony, May, or some of his friends and teachers,” Bucky explained at T’Challa’s confused expression.

“Well, at least I’ll know it’s real,” he said. “No, where exactly are we headed? “

“Nit sure. I suppose we should find another cave and let the kid recover,” Bucky said. “Last time this happened he got up pretty quick, but no one came through that time. We just talked for a minute or so.”

“Is that how you got here?” T’Challa asked curiously.

“Yeah, I was by myself too until suddenly the light started flipping out and I jumped through. Wandered around here for a bit until I came across Peter in one off the rock caves. I didn’t really notice how badly he was doing at first, I was just so relieved to see someone. Now, though, I’m wondering if I should have stayed on my side of the light. Maybe the kid would have more strength. I mean, it’s not like he needs protecting, there isn’t anything here!”

“You are wrong,” T’Challa said. “Solitary confinement is the worst prison a person can be put in. If you hadn’t crossed through the light, than you would both be far worse off.”

 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just wish I could get some sort of message across to the others and get him some help. I mean, I think he’s dying. Like, for real. Not this weird limbo thing we’re in.”

“Well I suppose the best thing we can do is find a base for now. Perhaps if we keep moving we’ll find a way out of this place.” Bucky nodded in agreement and threw the kid over his shoulder once more. Alright then. Let’s get to it.”

 

Thanos’ planet was just as beautiful on the surface as it was from space. Natasha couldn’t help but admire it as they trudged through a dense forest, following Shuri’s tracker to the infinity stones.

“Almost there!” she called quietly to the others, peering over Shuri’s shoulder to see how they were doing on the map.

“Good, ‘cause this walking is making me tired,” Rocket complained.

“If you pass out, I am not carrying you,” Tony said from where he and Dr. Strange were standing guard in the rear. Steve rolled his eyes, but silently agreed with the others. If Rocket were to pass out, he would be sent back through one of Strange’s portals, and explain what had happened to the good people back on Earth.

“Pick up the pace back there!” Shuri called, waiting for the others to catch up. “If it comes down to getting my brother back and waiting for al of you, I’ll be choosing the first one!”

“We’re coming! We’re coming!” the doctor said, quickening his strides.

“I don’t see why we have to walk. I have my suite, and doc has his cloak,” Tony grumbled, dodging a mud puddle to avoid anything getting into his suit.

“Because, Tony, not all of us can fly,” Natasha explained in annoyance.

“So? You guys could be, like, the surprise attack. Like, the sequel movie no one likes,” he suggested, earning more eyerolls.

“You have fun finding those stones without my tracker,” Shuri said with a smirk.

“Damn, you’re right. Strange, you think you can portal it over?”   
“I could, but I most certainly won’t be,” the doctor answered.

“Come on, you know you want to,” Tony pestered.

“I really don’t, actually-”

“Shhh!” Shuri hissed, stopped dead in her tracks. “We’re here.”

“Um… this isn’t exactly ‘secret lair’ material,” Tony said, looking around at what looked like a bamboo shack with a throne.

“Well, I have a feeling he wasn’t expecting company,” Steve shot back, looking around for any sign of Thanos/

“Well what is it, a titan retirement plan?” Rocket asked, lowering his blaster.

“I guess,” Natasha answered, furrowing her brow. “Where is he?” They all looked around, slowly approaching the bamboo hut and peering inside, all raising their weapons once more. The wind blew softly through the trees and sent ripples across the lake in front of the small building, the peace seeming quite odd given whose house they were in.

“Guys, I’m guessing these are infinity stones?” Shuri asked, pointing to box like that of the Collector, that held three glittering stones.

“Yes,” Dr. Strange breathed. “The reality stone, the mind stone, and the soul stone,” he said, pointing to each in turn. “I though we would only find two!” he whispered excitedly.

‘Where’s the gauntlet?” Rocket asked, looking around for any sign of the large golden creation. “I really wanted that gauntlet!”

“Thanos must still have it. We have no way of knowing if the other stones are on it or not, as these give off enough energy to make it impossible to tell,” Shuri explained.

“If he still had the others, than why would he take these ones off?” Natasha asked.

“Nat’s right. If he does have the gauntlet, it’s most likely lacking infinity stones. The other two are somewhere else,” Steve agreed. The group was too deep in conversation to notice Tony slowly inching towards the stones, eyes set on the golden orange glow of the soul stone. his friends were in there. Peter was was in there. Natasha turned right as he was reaching to grab it.  
"TONY! She shrieked, but it was too late Tony's hand had already closed around the stone. His eyes snapped open, glowing gold for a minute before his body was encased it the same light, far too bright for any of the others to look into. 

 

Tony had remembered the second his hand had touched the stone the true danger of touching them. He heard Natasha scream his name and Dr. Strange yell a string of curse words before everything turned bright gold.   
The golden glow started out blindingly bright, but soon dulled down so he could see. He seemed to be on some alternate version of Titan. Everything was golden orange, and he looked down to see that he left no footprints. He looked out at the vast horizon in confusion until he heard a familiar voice call his name.  
"Stark?" The voice of T'Challa asked. Tony turned to see him, Bucky, and to his shock, Peter, coming towards him. Everyone seemed to have pieces burned out of them like Mindy had, Peter worst of all. The kid was swaying on his feet and leaning heavily on Bucky,which Tony had mixed feelings about.  
"M-mr. Stark?" Peter asked, stumbling forward, reminding the other man painfully of how he had looked on Titan when the ash had consumed him.  
"Hey kid. That's right, I'm here, real in the metaphysical flesh," he replied with a grin, grabbing the kids shoulders to stop him from falling forward. "But, you weren't ash, I remember that!" Peter said, seeming to begin to panic. "You were also alive, I, you, you were supposed to be alive!" He sobbed.   
"Hey, I'm alive! I'm okay," Tony assured him.   
"How are you here?" Bucky asked.   
"Me and the team, we found the soul stone. I was the dumbass who decided to grab it without a fancy metal glove. Now I'm here," Tony explained.   
"How is Wakanda?" T'Challa asked. "Are they recovering okay?"  
"Yeah, kind of in a standoff with Secretary Ross at the moment, but they're doing well," Tong reported. The king smiled in relief.   
"Good. Now, do you have a way of getting us out of here?" I don't think Peter's going yo last much longer," he said whispering the last part so the teen in question couldn't hear.  
"Yeah, we're gonna get all the soul stones back and reverse the effects of Thanos' death snap. Also, why is Peter so much worse off than all of you?" Tony asked, noticing again how deathly Peter looked.   
"The golden light, it affects him differently. It's the only reason we're both here; he teared a hole in it accidentally and we jumped through. It drains him though, makes him fade faster. We think it has something to do with the radioactive spider," Bucky explained. They no longer had to keep there voices quieted as Peter had once again passed out, this time against Tony's shoulder.  
"I'll look into it," Tony said with a frown.   
"Hurry, he doesn't have long. How many infinity stones have you found?" T'Challa asked.  
"Four. Just two more left. Shuri found away to track they're energy pattern, so it shouldn't be too bad," he replied. T'Challa smiled fondy at the mention of his little sister.  
"Good," he said.  
"Hey, Tony? H-how's Steve?" Bucky asked. Tony immediately pictured Steve looking obsessively at his photo and smiled.   
"He misses you. A lit. Like so much that you two are gonna be locked in a room together once you get back and be forced yo deal with things, a lot,' Tony replied, making Bucky duck his head to hide his smile. It was than that the light around Tony started fading, and suddenly he was thrown back yo the world of the living to find everyone staring at him in fear. Peter woke with a cry as he fell, no longer having Tony there yo support him. He looked around frantically for him, but could not find him. Bucky and T'Challa thought they might break at his heartbroken expression. 

 

Okoye watched the security feed angrily. It showed what had happened mere hours ago, and what could possibility be the cause if the next war. She watched as an American team approached their shields. She watched as they shot down two of the guards, and were taken out by the others. She had warned Ross. She had given him plenty of chances to stand down. This was an open attack on Wakanda. This was war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	9. Here Amongst the Stars is Home Away from Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ross is stupid, Tony gets mad. And Peter wants to go back to space. The REAL space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Hope you like this chapter! Tomorrow's might be a bit on the shorter side as I have a lot of writing yo do on my original storues that needs to get done, but I'll try and update!

Things on Earth had never been so tense for the Avengers. News of Ross’ attack against Wakanda had spread across the world, and shook both countries to the core. America had released a public statement, but had yet to apologize for the attacks. Wakanda had yet to launch a response, but were doubling their border patrols and strengthening their shields.

The Avengers were to be kept safely within the heart of the city, and told not to venture outside as much as could be avoided. Okoye had assured them that they would not be handed over to Ross, which only made them feel all the guiltier. The news was on constantly, and they watched as Ross explained himself and went into his regular rant against the Avengers.

“So, this is what we missed?” Bruce asked, him and Thor looking at Ross in disgust.

“Apparently. It would take a truly heartless man to wage such a petty war in a time like this. Does he know nothing of the crisis affecting his planet?”

“From the way he acts, you’d think not,” Bruce replied solemnly.

“Do you think there’ll be a war?” Rhody asked, coming up beside the two.

“I’m not sure, but knowing Ross, I wouldn’t doubt it,” Bruce replied. Ross had been a problem long before the “Civil War’, as the other Avengers called it. He had often spoken badly about them after their more dangerous missions, reporting every casualty and conveniently leaving out all the good they’d down. It hadn’t really mattered before.

“We have to remember that Ross isn’t in charge of everything,” Bruce said. I mean, it’s not entirely his call.”

“Bruce is right, he may be blinded to logic, but the other higher up’s are not. They’ll know that a war with Wakanda is not one they can win. Wakanda’s weapons are far more advanced than ours, and their shields are much stronger. Not to mention that America doesn’t even have shields,” Rhody pointed out.

“Yeah, you are being far too paranoid,” Thor agreed. “If your elite team couldn’t get through, or even retreat for that matter, it is highly unlikely another will be sent.”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Besides, we should probably be planning for both scenarios,” Clint’s voice said as he came over from where he had been listening silently for the past five minutes.

“What do you mean?” Thor asked.

“I mean, the accords. Ross is going to want signatures from you definitely along with the rouge Avengers, and I’m guessing he still wants to know who Spiderman is.”

“Clint makes a good point,” Carol said, coming over to join the group. “I’ve had a hard enough time keeping out of his reach. The second I’m seen fighting with you, he’ll be after me as well.”

“Tony’s not gonna be happy,” Rhody said, already picturing his friends reaction.

“We’re gonna have to tell him and the crew about the attack,” Bruce said. “He’s gonna flip out.” The others all nodded and visualized various possible scenarios, mst ending with Tony killing Ross.

“Yeah, someone’s gonna have to restrain him,” Rhody decided. “We’ll tell them next time they call in. If all goes well, than that will be tonight. If not…” he trailed off, not voicing what everyone was thinking.

“If not, we wait until tomorrow,” Carol said, filling the silence. THe others nodded and headed up to their rooms, already hating being stuck in the building.

 

“Tony! What the hell!” Steve yelled when the golden light faded from around the other man and he opened his eyes.

“Hey Steve. Did you see that? I didn’t see you there, so I’m guessing not,” he said, making the others look around in confusion.

“Tony, what are you talking about?” Strange asked.

“Well, good news, I found the others. Bad news, we’ve got a deadline,” he said. “You know how I ran into Peter’s friend Mindy in the void on Titan awhile back?”

“Uh...yes,” Rocket answered.

“Well, this time I saw Peter,” he reported, waiting for the news to sink in before continuing. “He looked awful, Bucky was carrying him half the time-”

“You saw Bucky!” Steve yelled, eyes wide.

“Yeah, and T’Challa,” Tony reported, watching Shuri look up hopefully.

“You saw my brother?” she asked. “How was he? Was his suit holding up?” she questioned nervously.

“Yeah, yeah, he was holding up the best out of all of them. It seems like the longer they’re there, the more they fade away. They’ve all got pieces of them missing, Peter worst of all. The only reason the three of them are in the same weird golden world thing is because Peter’s weird radioactive powers seem to disagree with the golden light. It rips open gaps sometimes, and T’Challa and Bucky jumped through. It’s killing him though,” Tony said with a sigh. “He passed out halfway through our conversation.”

“So, if we don’t get the other stones in time-” Rocket started.

“They die. Slowly but surely, they’ll all fade,” Tony said bitterly, making the others look around nervously. “When I get my hands on that giant, wrinkled, grape, he’s going to burn,” he growled angrily, picturing how terrified everyone had looked in the golden world, and how Peter was to weak to even stay conscious. 

“Well, he’s not here, that’s for sure,” Natasha said, pointing to what seemed to be a landing pad. His ship is gone.”

“Where do you think he went? I mean, he kept going on about how he’d be able to finally rest once all of his work was over,” Dr. Strange pointed out. “I was picturing the dream retirement on a beach, not blasting off to who knows where,” he added.

“I’m guessing he thought he’d still have the infinity stones,” Rocket said. “I mean, if something that valuable went missing from my house, I’d go after it,” he explained.

“Rocket’s right. He’s probably trying to find the others. If we can track them, I’m sure he can too. We’ll need to hurry if we want to get the other two before he does,” Natasha agreed.

“Well then what the hell are we still doing here!” Tony asked in exasperation, Steve, for once, agreeing wholeheartedly.

“We’re robbing Thanos blind, that’s what,” Rocket said with a laugh as he pulled handfuls of units out of various boxes and drawers. “Come on, you know you want to,” he said, waving the units in the faces of his companions.

“Rocket, we do not have time for this nonsense, we have to save my brother!” Shuri ordered, yanking him away from the cabinet he was rummaging through.

“Alright! Alright! Sheesh! You people have no sense of fun,” he grumbled as they headed back to their ship. They all boarded, Dr. Strange holding the box with the infinity stones close to his chest and not letting it go until Thanos’ planet was out of sight.

“Shuri, how long until your system can hone in on the next stones?” Tony asked, fiddling nervously with the hem of his shirt.

“I am not sure, we should definitely have it by tomorrow,” she promised.

“Try and speed that up,” Tony ordered, heading off to his room and slamming the door behind him.

“How the hell did he manage to slam an automatic door?” Rocket asked.

“It’s his door, he probably just shoved it before it could close itself,” Natasha replied with an eyeroll. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Natasha jumped up. “Guys! We need to call Earth!” she exclaimed.

“Oh, yeah, I totally forgot about that!” Shuri said, quickly sending a transmission to Wakanda which was immediately accepted. The screen flickered and then showed the faces of Rhody, Scott, and Carol, or ‘Captain Marvel’ as she called herself.

“So? How did it go?” Rhody asked.

“Simple, Thanos wasn’t even there,” Natasha reported.

“You serious?” Scott asked in confusion. From all he’d heard about the mighty Thanos, that didn’t seem to fit his character.

“Yeah, we got three stones. We think Thanos is out trying to find the other ones,” Steve said. “And we have news about everyone who turned to ash. Tony grabbed the soul stone and was kinda sent to where they are for a bit. He saw Peter, Bucky and T’Challa,” the soldier reported, hearing the audible intake of breath from the other side of the screen.

“Are they okay?” Carol asked.

“No. If we don’t reverse this thing fast, they’re going to fade away. Especially Peter, the golden light is reacting badly with his powers from the spider bite or something, it’s killing him faster,” Natasha said.

“Well, we may or may not be at war with Ross,” Rhody said after a moment of tense silence.

“What? How did that happen?” Steve asked in confusion.

“He sent a elite team to the border, and they killed two of Wakanda’s guards. Okoye is distraught,” Rhody reported. “He also wants more signatures on the accord. Thor, Carol, he’s starting to push harder on Peter’s identity too and-”

“WHAT!” Tony’s voice yelled as the man himself came storming out of his room. “I thought I told that piece of shit NO!” he ground out furiously. They all seemed a bit taken aback by Tony’s sudden outburst, all staring at him in shock.

“Don’t worry, we haven’t given him Peter’s name,” Rhody assured him. The fight for Spiderman’s identity to be revealed had been going on since the accords, and neither Tony nor Ross planned on relenting. Tony had sworn that he would keep the kid safe from the media for as long as possible, which in his mind, was forever.  
"Good. Keep us updated, i'd like to know if he'll be landing in a war zone or not," Tony replied before ending the transmission.

 

Peter was tired. Not the normal tired as that was impossible on fake Titan, mind mind tired. He felt like his brain was slowly shutting down. Seeing Tony had been a relief, but waking up after passing out to find him gone made Peter hurt all over again. He was never going to get back to Earth.  
Bucky and T'Challa were very patient with him, making sure to walk slowly as notto strain his rapidly fading legs, and carrying him if he passed out. It hadn't been happening as much, but it would on occasion.  
"How many more infinity stones does Tony need to find?" Peter asked.  
"Two," T'Challa replied. "They currently have four."  
"Will thry get them before I fade?" Peter irwuired in a small voice.  
"What makes you think you're going to fade?" Bucky asked.  
"I've heard yoh talking. You guys think my powers are reacting badly woth the golden light, that thats why I'm sick," he said.  
"Listen, kid, we-"  
"It's okay," Peter said, hokding up a hand. "I had a feeling, and it will be more peacful than this. I wonder what it will be like. Maybe I'll be turned back into stardust. Everything's made of stardust, so maybe we turn back into it ehen we die," Peter suggested, making Bucky feel like he was about to cry. Death was not supposed to be the solution. Death was supposed to be the enemy. The way Peter phrasef it though, it sounded so simple. So curiose.  
"I'm not sure kid," Bucky replied.  
"When I die I will join my ancestors," T'Challa said, remembering the first time he had seen his father standinv in the plains by the panther filled tree. "We will stay in peace for the remainder of time."  
"That sounds nice," Peter said with a slight smile. "I'd still wanna be a star, though. There would be millions of other stars to hang out with and look down on Earth with. Stars have it so easy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	10. Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait for it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The universe reflects on all that's happened, and revelations are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION! I'd just like to tell everybody that this chapter is from the prospective of the infinity stones or 'universe', not any type of divine creator or God/gods. This is not meant to offend or represent any religion, or pose any religious beliefs. If anything I write insults any religious beliefs, please let me know so I can change it, as the last thing I want to do is offend anybody.

The universe was an interesting place. Well obviously it was, it was the only place. Ever since the dawn of the universe, the infinity stones had remained passive. They had kept quite and hidden, letting life change and develop as it would, not stepping in at all. They were passed from being to being, destroying all that touched them with immense strength.  
There interest began to peak when a creature by the name of Thanos rose to power, the intention of finding and wielding all the infinity stones heading his decisions. Many had had these desires before, but none had been as strong as Thanos. He had been close to getting the space stone, so close that the other stones considered doing something, but than a human by the name of Quill snatched it out of the air. The stones knew all about Quill, and knew he would not burn. He did not realize this though, and his bravery was not forgotten.  
The universe remained at peace for a time, though the infinity stones no longer rested. Now they stayed alert, watching and waiting. As they grew more and more sure that Thanos would succeed, theycreated a failsafe. They made a new life form and put it on Earth to wait until the time come when it was needed. Until then the stones watched as the power stone traded hands constantly, and the mind stone was given a body and name. It was through the mind stone that they came to know Tony Stark.  
Mr. Stark was an interesting creature. His will power was a match for the great Thanos, and his mind was a masterpiece like no other. The stones took an interest in how he handled the loss of his team, who, though he'd never admit it, were his family. His guilt was great, and the universe pitied him. They knew he wouldn't want it though, and so they remained in the shadows.  
Through the mind stone they witnessed the many forms of love. They saw the openly loving connection Wanda shared with the mind stone's host, and the more closed off yet still there thing that Steve and Bucky had going on. They saw the sibling teasing yet loving behavior between Shuri and T'Challa, and Wanda and Pietro. The stones witnessed the friendship and tightly knit familial bond between the team, and the protectiveness Tony showed when it came to Peter.  
It was from seeing this that soul stone created it's trap, knowing that no matter what Thanos thought, no what he made himself believe, he could never love anything the way the Avengers loved each other. That was why when he threw Gamora off the cliff, the soul stone did go to him. It went to him because it needed to motivate the Avengers to destroy him, and losing the ones they lived was the only way to do it.  
When Thanos had gathered the stones all together and snapped his fingers, they cried out. The anguish that spread throughout the universe was unbearable. The stones could feel all. They felt the fear of those that were fading, and the confusion and overwhelming loss of those who survived. They spread out quickly, leaving Thanos with only three of their numbers. Not before they sent a command to there creation. It was ready for the final battle.  
As the universe had hoped, Tony's grief allowed him to succeed. It motivated him and the others just as the stones had expected.  
Peter Parker was a strange case. When half the universe was turned to dust, if was sent to the plane of existence the infinity stones consciousness lived in; the beyond. Everyone wax send to a replica of there last known locations, which were many places. Most people ended up with others, as they been in close proximity. People on the streets would be with hundreds of others, while those in houses were often only with each other. Mantis, Drax, and Quill were together, but Peter was alone. The reason for this was, as Stark and Bucky suspected, his radioactive DNA. The chemicals had all mixed together to create a compound with a similar makeup of the infinity stones, which allowed him to hold onto the real world longer than he should have been able to. When he faded, everyone else had already gone, so he was trapped alone. The golden light of the Beyond Plane was supposed to keep him in, but had trouble fighting his DNA. The rifts in the light are something the stones find quite fascinating, though worrying given the affects they have on Peter. He fades because his DNA's first wired instinct says to get out of the Beyond Plane, just like the infinity stones instincts had told them. The normal part of his DNA is unable to handle the strain, though, so he loses strength far faster. The stones listened as he speculated about what death would bring him. As they had never died, they really couldn't say. It would explain the everlasting supply of stars though.  
Bucky and T'Challa's solitude was a result of more timing than powers. The universe had mourned the fall of the great king, but had assured itself that the Avengers would return him to his people. They'd return all of them back home. Bucky was someone the stones had hoped would be spared. He had already suffered greatly throughout his life, and the universe pitied him. The stones trusted Steve to help him when he was returned to the other soldier's care.

Now the stones watch as US missiles shatter against Wakanda's shields, and Wakanda fires back, destroying an government arms manufacturing plant. It watches as the crew in space races against Thanos, and it watches as they land on the Planet Knowhere. They also watch as half a world away, Thonos lands as well.  
The stones anticipate the upcoming fight with nervous energy, enough to make Tony drop the soul stone from his protected hands in shock after feeling a pulse of electricity when he had been whispering words if encouragement to his team and family within. The universe has a clear favorite, and its going to play it's master card in order for them to win. As the two groups approached each other, the stones awoken there creation from the Plane of Beyond, and sent it one order. Fight.

 

Mindy Zafai awake in the small room where she and MJ had been practicing their dance, a sense of calm washing through her. She knew her job, and she would do it. She walked out into the city, her eyes glowing a bright green in the dark.  
"Fight," she whispered, feeling the power of her makers crackle beneath her finger tops as she raised them to the stars and felt herself dissolve into light as she traveled upward. "And win."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	11. We Will Find a Way, Even Without Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew and Thanos meet on Knowhere, while war rages on Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry I didn't post yesterday, I was busy finishing an original story for mother's day. Here's one now, though!

The sky was dark when the shop landed on the broken remains of Knowhere, and everyone on board had a sinking feeling in their guts.

“You sure it’s here?” Rocket asked.

“Positive,” Shuri replied. “There’s a good chance both of them are.”

“Well then let’s hurry, our scanners picked up another ship landing, and I’m guessing the only tourists that come here now are here for a purpose,” Steve reported, looking at the screen in front of him.

“Well, we all know who that is,” Dr. Strange said. “Come on, we need to find it before he does.” The others nodded and set off through the burned remains of the gambling city. What had once been loud and colorful was now scorched black, soot layering the ground and flying up with every step.

“This place is creepy,” Rocket complained.

“Quite!” Natasha hissed. “With you around Thanos is going to hear us coming from his ship!” Rocket glared at her, but stopped talking as they scurried through the remnants of what had once been the casino outside of the collectors large emporium.

“You think it found it’s way back in there? I mean, that’s where the reality stone was the first time,” Rocket said.

“Well, no harm in looking,” Tony said, pushing open the large, scorched doors. The space within was filled with cracked glass cases and boxes of every kind. The ground was littered in soot and dust, and various items the Collector had found were strew throughout the huge room.

“I’m surprised this place hasn’t been turned over by smugglers,” Shuri noted, picking up a large fur jacket, the fur looking more grey than white. “I take it this was the Collector’s?”

“Yeah, that was his. Now, are we here to steal stuff, or are we here for the stone. ‘Cause if we’re here to steal stuff, I’m down,” Rocket answered, quickly grabbing a back of units and heading off into the mess in search of more. 

“Well, I doubt he’ll be m uch help,” Steve said with a sigh. “Alright, Thanos will be coming up here to look first I’m guessing, so we should try and make this quick. Infinity Stones or not, he is much stronger than us.”

“Glad to know you have faith, captain,” Tony said, patting the other man on the back as he brushed past. Shuri and Natasha headed down a large path through the destruction and split up a little ways through, and Steve began looking through a pile of large display cases whose glass had been blown out when Thanos had first arrived to steal the reality stone.

 

Tony walked until he had reached the opposite wall as Steve. He had a feeling that if they went from both sides and met in the middle, they’d make much faster progress. He caught sight of Rocket a few times, but they were only fleeting. He seemed to be jumping all over the place looking for nothing in particular. Tony had yet to find anything remotely interesting, or infinity stone related. He could tell Thanos was coming though. He could feel it.

Everything was calm. Far too calm for Knowhere. There was no sign of any other ships, or any scavengers. It was as they knew Thanos was coming and had stayed away until he had gotten what he wanted. He reached into his pocket and felt his hand close around a small leather back which contained three small stones.

“Shuri!” he called.

“Yes?” she replied, her voice echoing back to Tony.

“Can you come here for a sec?” He waited as he heard the sound of things being shifted until Shuri appeared in front of him.

“Alright, what do you need?” she asked, panting slightly from moving all of the Collector’s junk.

“I think we should spread out more. Thanos will be coming here, and if the stone isn’t here, then we’ll be in an even closer race,” Tony started.

“You want me to leave you guys here to face Thanos, under the lie that you’re doing it for the good of humanity when we both know you’re just scared I’ll get hurt,” she said, seeing right through him.  
"Yeah, okay," he admit. "But if you die before we get your brother back, what do you think he'll do to me?" Tony questioned.  
"Fine, but 'cause I don't want to see you dead," Shuri grumbled with a roll of her eyes.   
"Wait!" Tony called, pushing the small bag into her hands. "Take this. If anything goes. bad, head back to Earth and get the others," Tony ordered. Shuri nodded and ran out of the building.

 

"I can't believe this is happening," Clint whispered, staring up at the shields that were being repaired from where American missiles had struck them.  
"War is an ugly thing," Carol replied. "At least there's no casualties."  
"What about Wakanda's return strike? How many died then?" Scott asked, joining the two in watching the repairs.  
"The entire factory was demolished. Fourteen people were inside," Clint reported. They spent a moment in silence to mourn as they watched one side of the shield become fully active once again.   
"Does the crew know?" Carol asked.   
"Not yet, they haven't called in, they're off chasing infinity stones in a race against both Thanos, and time," Clint replied.   
"If it's against Thanos then they're screwed," Nebula said, stepping into the room with them. She had been in strategy meetings with Okoye and M'Baku all morning discussing Thanos and the stones. "Apparently some scientists picked up an infinity stone-like energy pulse in Queens last night. S.H.I.E.L.D sent some people to check it out, see of a stone had landed on Earth, but found nothing," she said.   
"Wonder what it could have been," Scott muttered. "I'll ask Mr. Pym, see if be can look into it." Carol was just about to say something when suddenly people were running around outside, and the group was being dragged back into the heart of the building by Okoye.  
"What us going on?" Thor asked, who had been in the courtyard before being ordered back to the meeting room like the others.   
"We are under attack, America is sending more missiles," Okoye explained.   
"Again?" Bruce asked incredulously.  
"I am afraid so."  
"Guys, maybe we should just turn ourselves over to Ross. I mean, this is all him," Bruce said.   
"No. No way," carol said, pulling up a second screen and flipping on the American news. "Look, the whole country is against this." It turned out Carol was right. The news showed people marching the streets with pro-Avengers posters, and interviews with citizens who were furious with the government's actions against the team and Wakanda.   
"If you turn yourselves in, then it would say Wakanda surrendered, and we do not surrender," Okoye stated. They stayed in the meeting room as the missiles hit, listening as they smashed against the shield, which stayed strong.   
"Is it still holding?"Scott asked nervously, looking like he was prepared to shrink down and hide if the building was hit.   
"Yes, the shields are successfully blocking the missiles " Okoye reported.   
"Good, good," Clint said in relief, knowing that arrows would do nothing yo protect him if a missile were to break through.   
Nebula was the only one who looked relatively calm. She was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed and head back, just waiting for the explosions to stop. The others assumed that this was relatively routine for her given her past, but it still struck them all. That should never be something anyone finds routine.

 

Bucky and T'Challa were at a loss. Peter was barely functioning anymore, the power from the golden light killing him quicker. He held on though. He'd force himself awake to talk to the two men, and make himself focus on memories.   
He told the other two stories. They mostly centered around time in Mr. Stark's lab, but were often based at school with his friends too. Soon both Bucky and T'Challa knew everything about everybody in Peter's life, and had a new array of things to hold over Tony's head.  
He also caught Bucky up on all the movies he'd missed while being the the Winter Soldier. They started with finishing up all the Star Wars movies and then moved on to Jurassic Park and The Shining. IT was also a fun one to talk about, as even T'Challa had heard of it previously and was able to contribute.  
Then came the day that Peter didn't wake up. He was still breathing, but he was completely unresponsive. His right cheekbone was beginning to fade, and his left hip was practically out of existence. There were large streaks of faded parts of him up and down his torso like giant claws, and his legs were fairing no better.   
"Do you think he'll wake up?" Bucky asked nervously.   
"I can not say. It depends solely on wether or not Stark can reunite the stones on time," T'Challa replied. After being stuck in the land of light for so long he was starting to like the kid. He had a feeling he'd get along with Shuri.   
While Peter was doing the worst out of the trio, the other two were also fading. Not nearly as quickly as Peter as they lacked the radioactive DBA that reacted so poorly with the golden light, but they were fading none the less.   
"I guess we'll just have to trust Stark then," Bucky said with a sigh.

 

Thanos was just like Tony remembered; big, purple, stupidly dramatic voice, and obsessed with those seven stones.   
Natasha had been the one to find the stone. It had been the space stone. She had carefully put it into small bag similar to Tony's, and sent a quick message to the others. It had been then that Thanos had appeared. Everything had happened in a blur after that. Thanos charged at Natasha, while Tony and Strange ran had him. Rocket threw a grenade which had little effect on the purple giant, and then began shooting.   
Tony's breath picket up as he watched Thanos left Natasha into the air. It was happening again. His team was going to be ripped apart again. Natasha struggled and kicked, but Thanos held her tight. He opened his mouth to begin what Tony could only imagine was another one of his pre-execution monologues when a blast of golden light smashed into his head, making him drop Natasha. Who scrambled back towards Steve, who stood in front of her like brick wall.  
They all slowly looked back to see a figure in emerald green robes land slowly behind Thanos, another blast of gold light levitating above her hand. Her skin was gold and her eyes were green, while her hair was purple, red, blue, and orange. She looked like sort of crazy alien queen, but her face was still recognizable.   
"Mindy?" Tony asked. She glanced at Tony grinned before casting her gaze back on Thanos, her face becoming stony and cold.  
"I am palmarius, creation of the soul stones and bringer of their wrath. You, Thanos, destroyer of races, have enacted it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	12. I Believe In you, I'd give up Everything Just to Find You...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wrath of Palmarius is brought down upon Thanos along with that of the entire crew. Tensions on Earth worsen, and reunions happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for not posting yesterday, I was busy binge reading! Anyway, here's a quick chapter, more of a battle sequence filler, but it's still something!   
> ANNOUNCEMENT! As we are well into the second half of the story, I will begin taking prompts for either one shots or multi chapter stories. If you want to see something written, want to hear more about a certain point, feel free to request something in the comments, or on tumblr!  
> Enjoy!

There was light everywhere. Mindy, or 'Palmarius', as she was now calling herself was shooting various coloured beams of light from her hands while Thanos shot beams of blue back at her and the others. Strange was using his mystic arts stuff to attack Thanos while Steve threw his shield to try and knock him off balance. Natasha and Rocket shot at him to little avail, and Tony flew around firing blasts at every part of Thanos he could reach.   
"This isn't working!"Natasha yelled into her ear piece, watching as her bullets bounced uselessly off Thanos' armor.   
"Nat's right, we need a new approach!" Steve growled, trying to rip the gauntlet off Thanos' hand, only yo be thrown five yards and into a large pillar.   
"Uh... will he live?" Rocket questioned. "Cause if not, dibs on the shield."   
"Rocket, no," Shuri's voice said. She must have reached the ship and was listening through the earpieces. "If anybody gets that shield, it's me."   
"Shuri! When you were vandalizing my perfectly good ship, what did you do to the guns?" Tony asked, an idea forming.   
"I upped the fire power and added a different ventilation system for quicker cool down. It fires much more efficiently now " she stated proudly, making Tony roll his eyes.   
"Yeah, well we could use the fire power!" He called, dodging a large hunk of rock Thanos had dragged down from space. "Hey! I said no more throwing moons ass-hat!" He yelled, dicing down and blasting Thanos backwards.  
"The stones!" Palmarius suddenly yelled, light flowing from her fingers and wrapping around Thanos' gauntlet. "Have your friend bring me them! It's the only way I can save your loved ones! Get his gauntlet quick!" She added, voice strained. "He's stronger than anything I've faced before!" Tony quickly raced towards the gauntlet, arriving at the same time as Steve.   
"Quick! Keep him down!" Steve ordered. Natasha nodded and she and Rocket began wrapping wire around Thanos' legs, not stopping their flew of bullets as Palmarius continued to keep Thanos contained as Tony and Steve struggled with the gauntlet.   
"Steve, I swear, if after this you still refuse to admit your feelings for that man I'm gonna kill you," Tony grunted, pulling with all his strength at the gauntlet.  
"Yeah, your probably right," he said, feeling the gauntlet slip as the two heroes pulled as hard as they could. Thanos bellowed in rage, trying to hit Palarius out of the sky. The stones creation didn't seen to be doing so well. Her golden skin was beaded with sweat, and her green eyes flashed with pain. She screamed as Thanos activated a hidden blade and sliced across her shoulder, smashing her to the ground right as Steve and Tony slid the gauntlet off his hands, throwing it to Strange. Thanks growled in rage and ran at the man, only to be hit square in the back by an unrelenting rain of shots as Shuri pulled up behind him.   
"That's for my brother you piece of shit!" She screamed,reveling in his fury. Thanos was about to turn back towards Dr. Strange when his right eye was suddenly sliced out, and Natasha was wrapping a wire around his neck.   
"Wanda!" She yelled furiously, as Rocket began tightening the wires on his leg so they dug in and began drawing blood.   
"You killed my crew!" He yelled, shooting the new leg wounds and making Thanos fall to his knees.   
"For Bucky!" Steve growled in fury, attacking the titan with his shield.   
"For Earth!" The doctor declared, an array of golden tendrils wrapping around Thanos and searing his purple flesh. Tony walked forward slowly and and grabbed the back of Thanos' head.   
"They won't remember you. You'll just be another killer," tony said. "For Peter," he said quietly,holding his hand up to Thanos' head and sending a blast of energy through his body. The great titan keeled over sideways, twitching slightly, his breathing shallow.   
"Great, do we kill him now, right?" Rocket said, grabbing his gun.   
"Yes, but that right belongs to someone else," Tony said, blocking Rocket's shot. "Just to clarify, that thing is not going to on my ship," Tony said after a moment. "Strange, you're teleporting him back to Earth."  
"Tony, do you know how energy that would require-"   
"I don't care, I will not be smelling that the whole ride," Tony persisted. The group stopped when they reached the form of Palmarius. She slowly opened her green eyes and sat up, shaking out her long, muti colored hair.   
"The stones, do you have the stones?" She asked, looking around them to see the unconscious form of Thanos behind them. Shuri, who had by then gotten out of the ship to kick Thanos in the nuts, carefully handed her the bag while Strange handed her the gauntlet. It was then that Tony noticed the circlet around her head. It glittered the way the bifrost did in the pictures Thor had shown them, and had six small indents going around it. Palmarius held each stone up, and they flew to there decided spots until the crown glowed brightly. She smiled and suddenly they were surrounded by light. "They will appear where they died she murmured, so I believe you will need to split up for now. I shall return you all to Earth once you have collected your loved ones,"she said. Then with a flick of her wrist, the scenery changed completely.   
Tony looked around and felt a jolt of horror when he saw he was back on Titan, the exact spot that Peter had turned to ash. Rocket was a few yards away, looking around in confusion. Dr. Strange was there as well, which really didn't make sense as he had done his whole time travel, but Tony didn't have time to question it. He didn't have time to do anything but stare as the golden tear appeared in their in front of him, and the form of Peter Parker stumbled out. Tony rushed forward and grabbed the kid before he could fall, which felt sickenly familiar. He slowly lay him down and watched as the faded parts of Peter's body, which was practically the whole thing, repaired themselves. Tony looked up and saw Rocket watching as one by one the Guardians returned from ash, and saw Strange watching in amazement.   
"M-mr. Stark?" A small voice asked. Peter was looking around in confusion, eyes wide and scared. They focused back on the man above him grabbed his arm, seeming to use all of super strength to make sure he was real. "Please don't go, I-I don't wanna be alone again, please," he whimpered, tears welling in his eyes. Tony wads reminded of Peter's parting words last time they were on Titan, and he shuddered. He pulled the kid against his chest, reveling in the fact that he was there, and whole, not caring if tears got on his suit. He could hear a similar reunion going on with the Guardians as Quill repeatedly sobbed broken apologies, and Mantis clutched her head at the overload of emotions.   
"We're going home kid, we're all going home," he promised. "And then I am reinstalling the 'Baby Monitor' protocol on your suit, and you are never going to space again," he added. Peter gave no verbal response, just nodded and tried not to sob. It didn't work at all.   
"Hey, good work, kid," Dr. Strange said, resting a hand lightly on Peter's shoulder. They stayed like that for a minute before they were engulfed in an emerald green light, and opened their eyes to find themselves in the meeting room of Wakanda where T'Challa was having the strength of his suit tested by the bone crushing hug he was receiving from Shuri and the newly returned Ramonda. Palmarius watched with a smile and nodded at Tony and Peter. "Everyone has been returned," she said. "Everyone who played a part in this has gotten their reward. I shall be in touch. For now. Celebrate. And don't let Captain Rogers back out of his promise," she said with a small smile. 

 

Bucky and T'Challa had been keeping watch over Peter when it had happened. The sky had ripped open, and T'Challa had vanished. Peter had woken immediately, and cried out as he saw T'Challa disappear. His eyes had then looked to Bucky terrified, ans Bucky had been helpless to stop himself from being torn away from the kid, who cried out in anguish at the prospect of more solitude.  
Bucky woke in the forest. He recognised it all right. He had died there. He looked around and felt his eyes widen as he saw the Steve, the one and only Steve walking quickly towards him. The whole time he'd been in the void he'd promised he'd make his feelings known if he ever saw the man again, yet he now doubted he ever would. That was why when Steve pulled out of his tight embrace and planted a light kiss on his lips, he could barely breath. 

 

Thor watched with a grin as families were reunited and Steve and Bucky returned from the woods, adding another to his headcount of who on the team was back. He also made a mental note to mark down another OTP as 'cannon', as Darcy would have said.  
A weight still lay heavy on his heart, though, as when it came down to it, his family and friends were still gone. They had not been disintegrated, so there was no return for them. He was alone.   
"Well I wouldn't be so sure about that," a voice said from behind him. "You really must learn to lock your mind, brother, you never know who could be listening."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


	13. Funeral in His Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More reunions, and the end of part two of the 'Life Doesn't Discriminate', series. Part three will be up soon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! So, this is the end of this installment of the series, but I will have part three up within the next few days. By the end of this chapter you'll see where the plot is going to be going next, so keep an eye open!  
> ALSO: the list of the songs each chapter title is based off of will be in the end notes. If you want a good song to describe this story, try 'Echo' by Jason Walker.  
> Enjoy!

Thor stared at the figure in green standing in the doorway. His brother. His brother was alive!

“What, you didn’t think I was actually going to stay dead this time, did you?” Loki asked with a smirk, though there was a shadow behind his eyes.  
"Um… ow,” he grunted while being pulled into an embrace that would have snapped the rips of a grizzly bear.

“How are you not dead? I saw you die! You were suffocated, and then blown up!” Thor exclaimed.

“Oh yes, all of that is true. I was very dead,” Loki said. Again, Thor saw the shadow of something behind his casual bravado. Was it fear? He couldn’t quite tell. “You can thank Stark’s friend, she’s the one who did it,” he said, not going into any further detail.

“Stark’s friend?”  
“Yeah, Miss Universe, or whatever her name is,” Loki replied, glancing around. “Where are we anyway.”

“Wakanda,” Thor replied.

“And Thanos?” Loki asked uncertainty, shifting slightly.

“He is contained. He shall be executed at dawn,” Thor declared. Loki gave no response, only staring hard at the ground. “Come, brother. We shall rejoin with the others!”

“Brother, I am not welcome here,” Loki pointed out.

“Nonsense, they all know of your bravery in defending Asgard with Banner and I, and they know your sacrifice on the ship. All is far from forgiven, yes, but you shall face no prosecution,” Thor assured him, dragging him back towards the meeting room for what was to be an extremely awkward set of introductions.

Nebula watched as people were reunited, both in front of her in Wakanda and on various news channels worldwide. Families put back together and people crying tears of joy and relief. She glanced over at where the Guardians of the Galaxy were huddled but quickly looked away. Her place was not there. It never would be.

She had yet to be told of Thanos’ fate. She knew that he had not died on Knowhere, but that he had yet to awaken either. She Tried to decide how she felt, letting down her guard for a second too long. She felt a hand grab her shoulder and whirled around, blades drawn, only to find herself looking into a face that she had both loved and hated for the majority of her life.

“Gamora?” she breathed, lowering her blades.

“Hello, sister,” the other woman said, expression giving away nothing.

“How are you-”

“I was sacrificed for the soul stone. When the effects were reversed, I was brought back as well,” she stated simply. “Okoye wishes to speak with you, something about an honor you are to be given,” she reported. Nebula nodded but said nothing. The two stared at each other for a few more minutes before Gamora held out a hand, and Nebula tentatively shook it. “I’m not sure how long the guardians plan on staying here, but you are welcome to join us when we leave,” Gamora said as she ran over to greet her friends. Nebula stared after her in shock, for once in her life having no reaction. They were far from sisters, but they could get there someday.

"Nebula,” Okoye’s voice said from behind her. “I have news.” Nebula followed Okoye into one of the smaller meeting rooms where Tony, Dr. Strange, Shuri, Steve, Natasha, and Rocket were all standing. “As you know, Thanos has been defeated. He has yet to pay for his crimes, though,” Okoye began, only to be interrupted by Tony.

“Yeah, yeah. Can we skip the whole lecture thing? Thanos needs to die. Everyone wants to do it. You have the most rights to the job though, so if you want it, it’s yours,” he said, earning a glare from Okoye. Nebula looked around. She had been expecting some sort of executioner to be assigned the task, but apparently not.

“Usually the job would not be revenge based, but these are odd circumstances. People want blood, and a quick injection isn’t going to satisfy them,” Okoye explained, as if reading her thoughts. “This method, though, might do the trick.” Nebula thought for a moment and then nodded.

“How do you want it done.”

 

Peter was exhausted. He had a tearful reunion with Aunt May via hologram the second he was emotionally able to. She was unable to fly to Wakanda to see him in person because of the undeclared war going on. All travel between the two countries had been shut down, so Pepper was stuck too. Peter had a feeling Scott had broken that rule to sneak onto a plan and get back to his family though, as both him and his shrinking suit were gone.

He had stayed with Tony for the rest of the day, until Tony had been called into a ‘Crew Only’ meeting, and Peter was forced to leave. He then went to find Bucky, who had also not been aloud in. The man seemed much happier, and Peter had a feeling he knew why from all the suggestive comments being made by Tony throughout the day.

He had only been able to see T’Challa briefly as he had to catch up with everything he’d missed while trapped in the golden light and deal with the war with America they were now fighting, but he had said hi to his two companions nonetheless.

Peter was now sitting curled in the bed that he had been provided, alone in the dark with his back to the wall. He was trembling all over and was taking in minimum oxygen in short, gasping breaths. He had known that this would probably happen as a result of full out dieing. The nightmares he’d had after the Vulture dropped a building on him had been bad enough, but he hadn’t really been thinking to hard on it when in the golden light. Now, though, now he could think of little else. All he felt was the tingling and burning as he’d turned to ash, and he could see only golden light when he closed his eyes, Titan’s horizon in the backdrop. He had been given a separate room because the doctors had said he needed more sleep, but the solitude did nothing but make him afraid. He didn't want to be alone. He wouldn't survive.

A part of him had stayed dead, and he doubted that even Mindy would be able to get it back. Suddenly there was a soft knock on his door which made him jump.

“Kid? Peter?” Asked Tony’s voice from the other side. It was slightly muffled by the thick metal, but still there nonetheless. “I got an alert from Karen, your heart race is increased by a lot, and your not breathing right, can I come in?” Peter tried to answer, but his voice caught in his throat, coming out as more of a desperate whimper. "That's it, I'm coming in," Tony said, pushing the door open so that Peter's tear streaked face was flooded with light. Soft light, not harsh gold. Never gold again.  
Peter tried to wipe the tears off of his cheeks, but his hands were shaking too much. He coughed as he tried to breath, only making his lungs try to suck in more air as his throat blatantly refused to cooperate.  
"Peter, breath," Tony said, sitting down beside him. "I need you to breath with me, can you do that?" He asked. Peter wasn't so sure that he could, but he nodded and tried to mimic Tony's breathing. "There you go, you've got it," Tony said as Peter's breathing finally began to even out, and his trembling lessened.  
"M-mr. Stark?" Peter asked, peering up at the other man. "Mr. Stark, I don't wanna be here, I can't- please don't make me- I don't want to, not again, please," Peter was rambling now, unable to decide how to get his point across. He couldn't stay in the room anymore, though. Not alone. Not again.  
"Calm down, kid," Tony said, putting an arm around his shoulders. "What don't you want to do?" He asked. One thing at a time. Keep Peter calm.  
"I-I don't want to be alone," Peter whispered, not wanting to sound weak. "Please, don't make me stay here," he pleaded.  
"The doctors said you can't leave yet," Tony said, trying not to flinch at the broken whimper the kid made, "but they never said I couldn't stay here too," he finished.  
"Y-you're gonna stay?" Peter asked.  
"Yes. And then tomorrow, we're gonna have a little chat about how to help make this easier."  
"No, it's okay, I've dealt with nightmares before-" Peter began, only to be cut off by Tony.  
"Which you should have mentioned to me when they started, instead of after I cornered you and demanded answers. You didn't deal with it then, and knowing you, you certainly won't this time 'round. You need help," Tony said, remembering the night he had finally demanded answers about how it was that Spiderman was patrolling at 5:30 am when school started at 7:30.  
Peter looked down but finally nodded. "Good," Tony said. "Now sleep, I won't leave." Peter curled up and was out like a light within ten minutes. Tony, as promised sat beside him for the whole night, helping him through three nightmares and regretting his decision to let Nebula have all the fun with Thanos. 

 

Bucky had had a very eventful day, the highlight of which had been Steve kissing him. He had thought that it had been a privet affair, but somehow all the Avengers already knew by the time he'd gone back inside.  
The majority of his day had been spent glued to Steve's side, too relieved to see the man to care how obvious he looked. He had been in a few meetings with T'Challa to discuss the golden light, but they had been quick. It had been T'Challa who had suggested that he go check on Peter. The king had wanted to himself, but was in the midst of a national crisis and found himself needed elsewhere.  
That was why Bucky had made his way down to the hospital wing of the building and asked for Peter's location. The second he saw the room he knew it was bad. The room had been designed for Peter to sleep and recover his strength, but by doing so kept him isolated and in the dark. Bucky quietly open the door to find himself staring right at Tony Stark.  
The man was sitting on Peter's bed with said teenager curled up beside him, fast asleep.  
"Sergeant Barnes " Tony said stiffly, nodding to the other man. Bucky nodded back, shifting from foot to foot.  
"I was just checking in on Peter," he said quietly, unsure of what to expect from the man in front of him. He and Tony had gotten off pretty terribly, and they had never exactly healed any of those wounds. He hadn't even seen him since they had fought in Siberia, and Stark had ripped his metal arm off.  
"Had a feeling," Tony said, his expression giving Bucky no hint as to what he was thinking.  
"Well, I'll just get going," Bucky whispered, backing slowly away until...  
"Wait," Tony said. He looked really uncomfortable, and for once seemed to be at a loss for words, which did nothing to settle Bucky's nerves. "Look, we're not friends. You know it, I know it. I-I'd like to think we're not enemies though," Tony began, clearing his throat. "Thanks for looking out for the kid. He needed it. And thanks for keeping Steve together. He'll be needing you," Tony said awkwardly. Bucky nodded slowly.  
"I'd like to think we're not enemies either, Mr. Stark," he said. "And thank you." With that Bucky retreated back to where he had been sitting with Steve, Wanda, and Quill, only to find the room empty with a note from Steve that said 'Meeting room'. 

Bucky walked down the large hallways until he found the meeting room where T'Challa and his top warriors, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, Loki, Nebula, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Palmarius were all looking at a large screen. Tony and Peter were both absent from the meeting, but Bucky knew where they were, so he wasn't worried.  
"Bucky!" Steve called cheerfully, putting an arm around his shoulder and turning his attention back to the screen, where Ross was making a speech.  
"What's going on?" Bucky asked Steve.  
"Ross. He's currently talking about the joys of having everyone's loved once back, but we have a feeling that hes gonna discuss the war. Knowing Ross, it will probably continue. We can still hope though," Steve whispered.  
Okoye was watching the screen with barely masked disgust, while Shuri was making faces and occasionally giving TV Ross the finger. T'Challa looked deep in though, and Ramonda looked nervous while M'Baku just looked angry.  
"Will he just get on with it," Rhodey grumbled. They watched as Ross continued to drone on and Loki shook his head in disgust as he began mentioning the Avengers past 'failures'.  
"The damage to New York was my fault! Not yours!" He exclaimed in outrage. "How dare he try and pin that on you brother!" Thor calmed him quietly and they continued to watch. They listened as Ross talked about the Avengers, and about criminals. They listened as he insulted Wakanda, and they listened as he officially declared war on the nation. It was real, and it wasn't going away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Songs:  
> Ashes, Ashes, We all fall down: Ring around the rosie
> 
> Tend to our Wounded, Count our Dead: Battle of Yorktown, Hamilton
> 
> Hurts Like Hell: Hurts Like Hell, Fleurie
> 
> It's Only a Matter of Time: Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story, Hamilton
> 
> Hurt: Hurt, Christina Aguilera
> 
> My Immortal: My Immortal, Evanescence
> 
> Where are You Now?: Faded, Alan Walker
> 
> City of the Dead: City of the Dead, Eurielle 
> 
> Here Amongst the Stars, is Home Away From Home: Paint the Pictures, of Verona
> 
> Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait for it....: Wait for It, Hamilton
> 
> We will Find a Way, Even Without Wings: End of the Dream, Evanescence 
> 
> I Believe in you, I'd Give Up Everything Just to Find You...: Taking Over Me, Evanescence 
> 
> Funeral in His Heart: Funeral in His Heart, October Project
> 
> LegacyofLight.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> Well! Let me know what you think, comments and kudos are always appreciated! Feel free to vent about Infinity War to me as well, I'm still not over it.
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: LegacyofLight.tumblr.com


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